From silence to support:
how instagram is used to share miscarrige grief
Project: Research, TU Delft
Product: Paper in JMIR Publications challenge
Having a miscarriage can be a deeply distressing experience and due to social taboos the emotional impact tends to be undermined. However, more women are breaking the silence by sharing their miscarriage grief on social media.
While research into how people share health experiences online is growing, we still don’t fully understand the kind support these women receive through their instagram posts.
This study aimed to explore the different forms of support that women both provide and receive when sharing their miscarriage grief on Instagram.
process
A total of 258 Instagram posts and 736 comments from six women who shared their miscarriage experience were qualitatively analysed. This data was organized and grouped through a thematic analysis to better understand the social community support phenomenon.outcome
Our study identified three overarching themes to describe the support phenomenon: Theme 1: storytelling of emotional turmoil and grief after miscarriageTheme 2: sharing positivity amidst miscarriage griefTheme 3: sharing personal medical information about miscarriage.
Our paper also introduces the new term 'Communal Load Sharing' to describe this grief support provided through social media.
The study was published in the journal JMIR publications on 27-06-2024
DOI: 10.2196/56680