Running Head: I TWEET DEAD PEOPLE

I Tweet Dead People: A Study of Condolence Messages Via Twitter

January 9, 2015

Submitted to Sooner Communication Conference

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Abstract
This study examines condolence messages in microblogging via Twitter, specifically the
condolence messages from fans celebrating the lives of celebrities. The data for part one of the
study was collected using #RIpCoryMonteith and #RipRobinWilliams. The tweets were
collected from the time of the public announcement of the stars death to 12 days following. For
part two of the study, data was collected using the Twitter accounts @annasita, @msleamichele,
@zeldawilliams, @CodyAlanMusic, and @zakwilliams.The tweets were collected for 30 days
after to the time of the public announcement of the stars death. In the coding process, the tweets
were categorized by using Creswell (1997) Grounded Theory. The study found that actual
condolence messages are a small number of the actual tweets being produced. There is a
possibility that if the types of grief messages were to change, then the relationship between
mourning communities and the celebrities families could become interpersonal rather than
parasocial.

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I Tweet Dead People: A Study of Condolence Messages Via Twitter

In July of 2013, Cory Monteith the star of the hit Fox television show Glee passed away
unexpectedly. Just moments after the announcement of his death his fans took to Twitter to
express their remorse for their loss. Grieving fans tweeted pictures of the star and used the
#RipCoryMonteith and #PrayForLea to connect to the celebrity. Lea Michele was Corys Co-star
and real life fianc. A few weeks after Corys death, the first public comments made by Lea was
on Twitter. She stated, Thank you all for helping me through this time with your enormous love
& support. Cory will forever be in my heart (July 29, 2014). According to Twitters website, the
page devoted to #YearonTwitter the Golden tweet, also known as the tweet that received the most
retweets in a single year was Lea Micheles comments about her late fianc (2013).
Twitter has changed and connected our lives in a whole new way. We have the ability to
grieve on Twitter and express condolence in ways we could not have imagined seven years ago.
There is a need to look at how Twitter has become an outlet for condolence messages and
grieving communities. We have the ability to participate in parasocial relationships that add new
meaningful to only one person.
The goal of this research was to study the type of messages that emerge when a celebrity
passes and fans condolence messages. I looked to answer two questions: how can the condolence
messages produced by the mourning celebrity communities be categorized; how can the families
responses to Twitter fans condolence messages be characterized? In the following literature
review, parasocial relationships, and virtual mourning were reviewed to serve as the foundation
of the study.

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First, the following terms are defined order to clarify critical terms. All of the definitions
are taken from the Twitter glossary.
Definitions
@: The @ sign is used to call out usernames in Tweets: "Hello @Twitter!" People will
use your @username to mention a person in Tweets, send a message or link to your profile (para.
1).
@username: A username is how one is identified on Twitter, and is always preceded
immediately by the @ symbol. For instance, Katy Perry is @katyperry (para. 2).
Follow (v.): Subscribing to a Twitter account is called following (para. 13).
Hashtag: A hashtag is any word or phrase immediately preceded by the # symbol. When
you click on a hashtag, one sees other Tweets containing the same keyword or topic (para. 21).
Retweet (n.), RT: A Tweet that is forwarded to ones followers is known as a Retweet.
Often used to pass along news or other valuable discoveries on Twitter, Retweets always retain
original attribution (para. 36).
Tweet (n.): A Tweet may contain photos, videos, links and up to 140 characters of text
(para. 46).
Tweet (v.): The act of sending a Tweet. Tweets get shown in Twitter timelines or are
embedded in websites and blogs (para. 47).
Twitter: An information network made up of 140-character messages (including photos,
videos and links) from all over the world. (para 49)

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Literature Review
The power of Twitter has connected individuals from around the world. Twitter is
growing at an exponential rate. In fact, there are 135,000 new Twitter users signing up
everyday (visual.ly, para. 1, 2014). Also, there are on average 58 million tweets a
day (visual.ly, para. 1, 2014). The impact of Twitter is evident. The first section of this literature
review includes the impact of parasocial relationships, specifically through the use of the
internet. The second section considers literature related to virtual mourning and the impact that is
created.
Parasocial Relationships
The concept of parasocial relationships or parasocial interactions was first introduce by
Horton, and Wohl (1956). In Mass Communication and Parasocial Interaction: Observations on
Intimacy at a Distance, Hortan, and Wohl explained that parasocial relationships are
interpersonal relationships that are often one sided. Consisting of two parties, the first knows a
great deal of private information on the second party without the second party knowing. This
ground breaking study for one of the first to understand stalker type relationships. Although as
social media has continued to grow, there has been a new use for the theory.
Stever and Lawson (2013) researched the parasocial interactions as they looked at the
growth of parasocial relationships between the general public and celebrities using Twitter.
Stever and Lawson (2013), concluded that Twitter has given the public access to tthehe personal
lives of celebrities. Also, they found that through Twitter there is a potential for meaningful
parasocial interactions. The authors explained, Our analysis showed that for at least some of the

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celebrities using Twitter, the dialogue is serious, meaningful, and has impact for participants (p.
352).
Some concluded that only certain personality types are affected by the parasocial
relationships created through Twitter. This conclusion is far from what other studies concluded.
The Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS, Developed by McCarley and Escoto) and the Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator (MBTI) were used in a study by McCarley and Escoto (2003). The study looked
to correlate personality types and celebrity worship. To conduct the study, the researchers took a
sample of 172 undergraduate students (126 women and 45 men) and required each participant to
take the test as part of an introductory Psychology course.The authors specifically used Micheal
Jackson as the subject for celebrity worship. They then took the results of the two evaluations
(CAS and MBIT) and compared frequencies, and similarities. McCarley and Escoto found that
there is no correlation between the two factors. After analyzing the data, the researchers found
that the MBIT had no constant variable for a higher or lower CAS.
Since the parasocial relationships are not just applied for one type of person, there is
then an assumption that any person can be connected to the groups created by the parasocial
relationships. Smith, and Smith (2012), conducted a study on sports communities using
hashtags and Twitter to study the establishment of group identity.
Smith, and Smith (2012) used Tajfel and Turner's (1979) Social-Identity Theory to
understand the identity of the group. The researches created a coding process to code tweets
during the last two games of the 2012 College Baseball World Series. Taking tweets from the
moment the game started on ESPN and ending the moment the broadcast for the games was
finished. The process included collecting tweets using the #CWS.Then Smith, and Smith (2012),

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recorded the amount of times #CWS was tweeted. After the primary coding process was
concluded, Smith and Smith discovered the sub hashtags used by the community. The authors
believed that due to the sub hashtags trending among the community originally found through
the #CWS, the groups identity and community was reinforced. The strong bond between the
community using Twitter and hashtags created an identity for the community. The community
was also created entirely through parasocial relationships.
Social media has created a whole new area of research for parasocial relationships. There
is greater access to these types of interactions, personality type is not related to these types
interactions, and the parasocial relationships have created community Identity.
Virtual Mourning
Not only has Twitter connected us to individuals we have never meet but there has been
increase connections via virtual mourning to those who have passed away. Mitchell, Stephenson,
Cadell, and Macdonald (2012) found that posting on virtual memorials and visiting these types
of sites causes parents to feel more connected to their deceased child. Likewise, online
memorials seem to create an ongoing communication between deceased children and their
parents. Cyber obituaries have the same effect mourning loved ones. Hume and Bressers (2009)
found that obituaries posted by newspapers online become an outlet for mourning after an
individuals death. The researches also found the obituaries became a way for those in mourning
to feel connected to their loved ones. Cyber obituaries often have a comment section which will
allow anyone to post. Hume and Bressers (2009) explained that many who knew the deceased as
well as people that did not would post condolence message, farewells and memories to the page.

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The researchers concluded that the shift from paper to online obituaries has created a new
connection to the deceased and added another dimension to the grieving community.
The concept of virtual mourning can be applied to parasocial relationships as well.
Sanderson and Cheong (2010), explained that social media has affected the grieving process
through parasocial relationships. Sanderson and Cheong explained that unique communities are
created when posting to these site; the authors stated, These online forums also provided a point
of connection wherein people across diverse geographic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds
coalesced to promote Jacksons legacy and draw support from one another (p. 337).
The messages that are created through the parasocial interactions and virtual memorials
are not only creating communities, but also provide a bond from the messages posted to the
deceased. Radford and Bloch (2012) explained the importance of cyber mourning to our society.
Radford and Bloch conducted a case study on Dale Earnhardt, Senior examining grief and
consumption related emotions posted on Yahoo message boards. The authors found that fans use
two processes (introjection and incorporation) to cope with the celebrity death. The authors
specifically explained that introjection is the process of using message board and cyber cites to
express shared experiences and feeling. Radford and Bloch then explained incorporation as
using products/merchandise (specifically related to the deceased celebrity) as a way to stay
connected to the memory of the individual.
The concept of parasocial condolence messages through Twitter, in some regards, has
been seen as impersonal and proof that society is becoming increasingly less connected.
HoweverHowever, Al-Shboul, and Maros (2013) argued the opposite. The authors explained

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condolence messages are a natural part of life, As Facebook and other social media sites continue
to grow, condolence messages will continue to grow as well.
With condolence messages, parasocial relationships, and virtual memorials becoming
such a meaningful part of our culture, there is a need to study the types of the condolence
messages. In fact, Stever and Lawson (2013) explained, It will be important to study all of the
implications of this dialogue for fan/celebrity relationships (p. 352). Through an analysis of
condolence messages sent to the second party of the parasocial relationships using the
#RipCoryMontieth and #RipRobinWilliam, this project served to reveal a better understanding
the role parasocial condolence messages have our world.
Methods
One of the challenges in conducting this study was the overwhelming amount of data. To
better understand the grief condolences of parasocial relationships on Twitter, two separate
celebrity deaths were used as case studies. The celebrities chosen were Cory Monteith and Robin
Williams. The two celebrities were chosen due to the outpouring of social responses after their
deaths.
Cory Monteith died on July 13, 2013, at the age of 31. Monteith, a Canadian actor, stared
in a few movie roles, although he is best known for the American sitcom Glee. Monteiths
demographic was largely geared toward the 14 to 25 year age group. While Robin Williams
Demographic ranged from 16 to 85 years of age. Age demographics were determined based on
the demographic for each stars most popular shows and movies.Williams passed away on August
11, 2014, at the age of 63. Williams was best known for his work in Aladdin, Dead Poets Society,
and Mrs. Doubtfire.

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In Robin Williams and Cory Monteith cases studies, first, the types of tweets produced
were assessed by fans using the #RipRobinWilliams and #RipCoryMonteith. Secondly, the
tweets of the intermediate family members responses to the fans tweets were assessed.
To conduct each part of each case study, Creswells (1997) Grounded Theory approach
was used. According to Creswell, Grounded theory study is to generate or discover a theory, an
abstract analytical schema of a phenomenon, that relates to a particular situation (p. 56). Using
open coding, emergent themes were categorized for each tweet.
For the first part, data was collected using probability sampling. The sampling method
involved the first tweet under each hashtag after the public announcement of the celebrities
death. Every twentieth tweet was collected for 12 days following their death.
#RipRobinWilliams tweets were collected from August 11, 2014, until August 22, 2014; a total
of 250 tweets were analyzed for the first part of the Robin Williams segment. The
#RipCoryMonteith tweets were taken from July 14, 2013, to July 25, 2013; a total of 244 tweets
were analyzed for the first part of the Cory Monteith segment. Tweets were placed into
categories based on emergent themes.
The second part of the process involved Coding the tweets of the deceased celebrities
intermediate family members. Each tweet dealing with the passing of the loved one was coded
up to a month after the public announcement was made. For the Robin Williams case, tweets
were taken from each of Robin Williams Children. This included @zeldawilliams,
@CodyAlanMusic, and @zakwilliams. A total of five tweets were coded from @zeldawilliams.
@CodyAlanMusic, and @zakwilliams each responded with one tweet. There were a total of
seven tweets for the second part of the Robin Williams segment.

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In Cory Monteiths case, tweets were taken from his mothers @annasita, and fiances
@msleamichele accounts. Five tweets were taken from @annasita and two were taken from
@msleamichele. A total of seven tweets were coded for the second part of the Monteith study.
After the tweets were collected, open coding process was used to categorize themes and similar
sub groups.
Once each section was complete, the results were evaluated. The methods used to
understand the phenomenon occurring on Twitter generated a great deal of data to be studied and
categorized for shading light on the research question.
Results
The questions involved in the study are as followed: how can the condolence messages
produced by the mourning communities for celebrities be categorized?; and how can the
families responses to Twitter fans condolence messages be characterized? Each case study had
two parts. The first was to analyze the tweets of the fans by using an open coding process and
categorizing the tweets based on themes. In the second part, the tweets of each family member
on Twitter we analyzed similar to part one of the study.
The first case study centered on the death of Cory Monteith. The tweets were collected
from July 14, 2013, to July 25, 2013. Ultimately, nine tweet categories were determined based
on similar words and phrases. Each tweet was only included in one category based on the
purpose of the message.
The nine categories were as followes: 1) Condolence Messages to Lea, 2) Denial or
Shock, 3) General Condolences, 4) Glee Reference, 5) Reference to Gleeks (Fandom), 6)
Goodbye messages, 7) News, 8) Quote, and 9) Tribute.

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Condolence Messages to Lea were categorized as messages that expressed sympathy for
Corys finance Lea Michelle. For example @JessDavis1011 tweeted, #PrayForLea if this isn't
getting easier for an ordinary #gleek I can't imagine her loss. #glee #RipCoryMonteith (July 23,
2013). Throughout the coding process the sub hashtag #PrayForLea was also discovered. More
than half of the tweets in Condolence Messages to Lea also participated in the sub hashtag.
Denial or Shock are the tweets which portrayed fans disbelief in the death of Cory
Monteith. For example @georgia_fox47 tweeted, can't believe cory monteith has died... so sad
can't even imagine how his girlfriend is feeling right now #RipCoryMonteith (July 14, 2013).
The central message was that the individual was personally effected by the death and could not
imagine that the celebrity they treasured had passed away.
General Condolences are blanket sympathy message to any one in close relation to Cory.
@_Martha_xo tweeted, It's so sad to see people die who meant so much to others. Cory's
family, friends and fans stay strong. . #RipCoryMonteith (July 14, 2013). The tweet was
focused on the those who had an interpersonal relationship with Cory.
Glee Reference consisted of tweets that referred to Corys hit show, Glee. For example
@meltvfanatic18 tweeted, Trying to make it through some #glee for the first time since
#ripcorymonteith (July 24, 2013). Typically the tweets for Glee Reference were very similar to
@meltvfanatics tweet. Each tweet made some sort of reference to Glee and Corys involvement
with the show.
Reference to Gleeks (Fandom) condolences tweets to the community that follows the
show. @weeklyalex tweeted, #Glee & #Gleeks I Wish there Was a Time Machine! To Save

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#RipCoryMonteith! We Could've Saved Him from that Tragic Death! (July 24, 2013). The
tweets in this category typically gave the community that were devoted to the show an
opportunity to grieve together. The category also showed the fans love for the show.
Goodbye messages are tweets saying a last farewell to the Cory. @livconig tweeted,
#RipCoryMonteith I'm so proud to have been able to call myself a fan of yours. Rest easy big
guy and keep drumming. Love you forever (July 14, 2013). The Goodbye messages were a
personal way for the individual fan to go through the grieving process.
The category News consisted of articles or links that shares information regarding the
celebritys death. For example @jack0cracklin tweeted, silver lining...sort of.
#MakeLoveNotWar #RipCoryMonteith http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/corymonteiths-death-3-charities-to-make-donations-in-glee-stars-memory-2013157 (July 16,
2013). The tweets were more informational and less about condolences and grieving.
Quote messages were tweets that quoted Cory form either Glee or his personal life.
@WankyColdplayertweeted, Don't let go,you've got the music in you. #RIPCoryMonteith
(July 14, 2013). Further research showed the quote is a song Cory sang on Glee. These messages
provided a channel for the tweeter to show the knowledge they have for the celebrity, while also
expressing personal grief.
Tribute messages are fan made pictures or videos that memorialized Cory Monteith. For
example @emiliyaatari tweeted, sweet pic RT @_AMDuran: #RipCoryMonteith
#PrayForLea (July 14, 2013); including the tribute picture (The tribute picture can be found in

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appendix A figure one). Tribute messages are the messages that personalized Cory for the
community and allowed for the individual to feel apart of Corys life.
The Following is Table 1 with the results from case one part one.
Table 1: #RipCoryMonteith
Condolence Messages to Lea- 25
Denial or Shock- 18
General Condolences- 8
Glee Reference- 42
Reference to Gleeks (Fandom)- 7
Goodbye- 47
News- 18
Quote- 8
Tribute- 71

20

40

60

80

The largest category is Tribute which accounts for 29% of the total amount of data. This
is followed by Goodbye Messages at 19% and Glee References with 17%. The first category to
deal with anyone outside of the fans and Cory is Condolence to Lea totaling 10% of the
messages. Denial or Shock and News each represented 7% of the tweets. Finally General
Condolences, Quotes, and References to Gleeks (Fandom) represented only 3% of the final total.
The Second case study focused on the death of Robin Williams. The tweets were gathered
from August 11, 2014, till August 22, 2014. Eight categories emerged based on similar words
and phrases. I made sure to only include each tweet in one category based on the purpose of the
message.

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The eight emergent categories were as followed, 1) Depression and Mental Awareness,
2) Family, 3) Personal Connection, 4) life Work, 5) Goodbye Messages, 6)News, 7) Quote, and
8) Tribute.
Depression and Mental Awareness were tweets similar to @NatClaire190 when they
tweeted, Can Robin Williams's death change how we talk about suicide? #RobinWilliams
#RIPRobinWilliams (August 14, 2014). The tweets included in this category had to reference
mental health and the risks of suicide.
Family were blanket message or reference to any one in close relation to Robin Williams.
For example, @xn40x tweeted, Robin Williams last tweets was about his daughter. How sad!
#RipRobinWilliams" (August 21, 2014). These messages sometimes included a condolence
message, although most of the tweets were just information about the family.
Personal Connection consisted of tweets that referred to Robins personal impact on the
individual. For example @SabineGibbins tweeted, Wow. I can't believe Robin Williams is gone.
So many movies I loved done by him. #riprobinwilliams" (August 11, 2014). The purpose of this
category revealed the death has affected the individual fan.
Life Work were tweets that showed knowledge of the movies and works by Robin
Williams. For example @grubb_48 tweeted, Robin Williams isn't dead, he's just stuck in the
jungle waiting for someone to roll a 5 or 8 #RIPRobinWilliams" (August 19, 2014); including a
picture of the Jumaji game (The Jamari picture can be found in appendix A figure two). This
category commonly allowed the tweeter to feel connected to and grasp Robin Williams death.

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Goodbye messages were tweets giving a farewell to Robin. For example

@MyMassAppeal tweeted, #RIPRobinWilliams you will be missed. Thank you for the joy you
brought to our childhoods. I hope you can see and feel the love & peace now(August 11, 2014).
The Goodbye messages were a personal way for the individual fan to go through the grieving
process.
The category News consisted of articles or links that posses information regarding the
celebritys death. For example @DarrenDedoKSN tweeted World reacts to the death of
comedian and movie star Robin Williams. #RIPRobinWilliams http://ksn.com/2014/08/11/actorrobin-williams-dies/ (Aug 12, 2014). Similar to the previous case study, these tweets were
more informational and less about condolences and grieving process.
Quote messages were tweets that quoted Robin typically from one of his movies.
@Ana_Lahcram tweeted, Words and ideas can change the world. #RIPRobinWilliams, just
magic and wonderful (August 12, 2014). The messages allowed the tweeter to show personal
knowledge for Robin Williams, and express grief. Quotes also memorized Robin Williams and
his famous movie rolls.
Tribute messages consisted of fan made pictures or videos for the celebrity. For example
@LeoLee_1 tweeted, If this doesn't warm your heart, your heart is too cold.
#RIPRobinWilliams" (August 14, 2014). @LeoLee_1 included a tribute picture (The tribute
picture can be found in appendix A figure three). Tributes represented a way for the fans to feel
connected to the celebrity while moralize Robin Williams life.
The Following Table represents the results from case two, part one.

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#RipRobinWilliams

Depression and Mental Awareness- 25

Reference to Family-8
Goodbye-31
1life Work- 52
News-9
Quote- 36
Tribute- 64
Personal Connection- 25

18

35

53

70

The largest category was Tribute which accounts for 26% of the data. Second was Life
Work with 21% and followed by Quotes with 14%. Fourth was Goodbye Messages consisting of
12%. Depression and Mental Awareness, and Personal Connection both contained 10% of the
total tweets. News came in at 4%. Finally Family, the category that had to deal with anyone
outside of the fans and Robin Williams represented the least amount with 3%.
For each case study, five categories were the same. The five similar categories were as
followes: Goodbye Messages, News, Tribute Messages, Quotes, and Life Work. Life Work was
not the technical name for a category in Corys case study. However, I chose to use Glee
References as his Life Work because the tweets referenced his involvement with the show. Also
Glee is one of the only popular shows that involved Cory Monteith.
The Following is Table 3 with the results from the comparison of case one and two
involving part one.

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Table 3: Comparison

Goodbye
News
Tribute
Quote
Life Work
0

20

40

60

80

#RipRobinWilliams
#RipCoryMonteith

For Both cases, Tribute Messages were the highest. Each had close numbers in all of the
categories except Quote. Each category contained around a 10 point difference. Quote however
had a 28 point difference. Robin Williams contained more tweets for the Quote category. Cory,
had the largest number in Goodbye, News, and Tribute. Robin took the lead in Quotes, and Life
Work. Combined, News was the smallest category represented.
For part two of each case study, tweets were collected from the immediate family
members on Twitter. The tweets were taken for a month after the announcement of the family
members death.
For Cory Monteiths study, tweets were taken from his mothers @annasita, and fiances
@msleamichele accounts. For Robin Williams case study tweets were taken from each of Robin
Williams Children. These included @zeldawilliams, @CodyAlanMusic, and @zakwilliams.

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Four categories were found during the coding process. The four categories include Clarification,
Charity, Goodbye Messages, and Thank You Fans.
Clarification, were tweets only found in case one. The category reflected tweets that
Corys mother posted to correct news articles being passed around with false information. For
example, @annasita tweeted, I have never met or spoken to this person He does not represent
me or my wishes (August 1, 2013). The tweets were impersonal and focused on the information
about the families death rather than their grief.
Charity, were tweets only found in case two. The category were tweets expressing
excitement that donations were being made in Robins Williams honor to particular charities.
Robin Williams daughter @zeldawilliams tweeted, Thank you to all those donating to @StJude
in memory of my father. I'm overwhelmed. The charity meant the world to him, as it does to me
(August 12, 2014). The category represented thank yous to fans, specifically fans who donated
to the charities.
Goodbye Messages, were tweets that expressed personal emotions or farewells to the
deceased family member. For example, Robin Williams son @CodyAlanMusic tweeted, This
week I lost my father and my best friend to something I will never understand. Rest in peace,
Dad, I will see you on the other side (August 15, 2014). Robins son took to Twitter as a way to
express personal grief.
Thank You Fans, were tweets that thanked the fans on Twitter for their condolences.
Corys finance @msleamichele tweeted, Thank you all for helping me through this time with
your enormous love & support. Cory will forever be in my heart (July 29, 2013).

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@msleamichele included a picture of the couple (the picture can be found in appendix A figure
four). Thank You Fans, were personal and directed to the mourning community. They did
however, include a PR type message.
The Following is Table 4 with the results from part two case one and two.
Table 4: Families Tweets

Clarifications

Charity

Goodbye

Thank You Fans

0

2
Cory Monteith

Robin Williams

For Both cases Thank You Fans were the highest category. Each case had a minimum of
two tweets in all of the categories except Clarification and Charity which were individualized.
Each case included 7 tweets. Case two had three counts coded while case one only had two. For
case one Cory's mother was the only account to tweet a goodbye message.
Discussion
In order to understand the impact that social media has made on our lives, understanding
the types of messages being produced is helpful. The first question, how can the condolence
messages produced by the mourning communities for celebrities be categorized?, and the second

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question, how can the families responses to Twitter fans condolence messages be
characterized?, were addressed with the data resulting from the two case studies.
In order to answer, the first question I coded the tweets from #RipRobinWilliams and
#RipCoryMonteith. I found that the tweets were commonly personalized to the fans. The fans
were tweeting wants to their own grieving process. Only 13% of the tweets for case one involved
actual condolence messages. Study two, only 3% represented condolences for the grieving
family members.
In both cases, the fans looked to personalize and memorize the relationship with grief
messages. In case one, 78% the messages dealt with personal grief over Corys death. For case
two 83% of represented personal grief messages for Robin.
For question one, messages were highly self involved and focused more on the individual
parasocial relationship. The fans hardly showed real concern for those in a real interpersonal
relationship with the celebrity.
To answer the second question tweets from the intermediate family members Twitter
accounts were coded. Specifically, form @annasita, @msleamichele, @zeldawilliams,
@CodyAlanMusic, and @zakwilliams were evaluated. These tweets can be characterized as a
mixture of personal and informational. Most of the tweets involved sending information out to
the public. While the second half of the tweets were personal goodbyes or appreciation for
support. It is important to note that most of the messages that were personal also read like PR
statements. They were short and did not include language that showed affection for the tweets
made by the fans.

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Also found, was the appreciation for the fans in the Cory Monteith case with less
accounts to collect tweets from. This may be due to the fact that in case one, actual condolence
messages were more prominent and happen more frequently than in Robin Williams case.
The parasocial relationship through Twitter is so impactful to the fan that they feel a need
to use Twitter in order to go through the grieving process. Also fans use Twitter to feel connected
to the celebrity and the impact of his/her death. There are, in fact, real condolence messages
being created for the family.
The percentage of condolence messages are extremely small but seem to make an impact.
In each case study the majority of family tweets were responding to the fans either, by emotional
or informational contexts. Therefore, even if the condolence messages are the smallest types of
messages, the families are impacted enough to take the time to respond.
What if the fans on Twitter used their influence to send meaningful and real condolence
messages to the families of the celebrities they connect? This could mean that a new type of
communication could be created. The relationships on Twitter could become a meaningful
interpersonal relationships rather than just parasocial relationships.
Based on the research of the study the more condolence messages being sent to the
family, the more there is an increase in the affect they have on the relationship. Fan mourning on
communities could foster a more meaningful way for families to grieve and connect to the fans.
Conclusion
There is a possibility that Twitter has created a whole new line of communication for our
world. Parasocial relationships on Twitter could be an ideal of the past. If the mourning

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community could create less self involved messages, then the shift to interpersonal interactions
would take place.
As the idea of a shift in relationship takes place, there needs to be more research
concerning the topic. The impact the relationship could make on our culture needs to be
monitored further. As our society grows we need to find out if at what point the messages are
meaningful to those most impacted by the loss.
I believe our culture is growing and as this takes place, we could become a culture that
straight more compassion and grieves for one another through the advancement of technology. In
a world where the threat of becoming desensitized grows, there is an outlet that could improve
our Communication and draws us closer.

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References
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Mitchell, L. M., Stephenson, P. H., Cadell, S., & Macdonald, M. (2012). Death and grief on-line:
Virtual memorialization and changing concepts of childhood death and parental
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Michael Jackson online. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 30(5), 328-340

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Smith, L., & Smith, K. D. (2012). Identity in Twitter's hashtag culture: A sport-mediaconsumption case study. International Journal of Sport Communication, 5(4), 539-557.
Start creating, sharing & exploring great visuals today!. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from
http://visual.ly/Twitter-facts-and-figures-2014
Stever, G. S., & Lawson, K. (2013). Twitter as a way for celebrities to communicate with fans:
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The Twitter Glossary. (n.d.). Retrieved December 9, 2014, from https://support.Twitter.com/
articles/166337-the-Twitter-glossary

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Appendix A
Figure One: Tribute Picture

Figure one is the tribute picture included in @emiliyaataris tweet.

Figure Two: Jumanji Picture

Figure two is the picture of the game Jumanji included in @grubb_48s tweet.
Figure Three: Tribute Picture

Figure three is the tribute picture included in @LeoLee_1s tweet.

Figure Four: Personal Picture

Figure four is the personal picture included in @msleamicheles tweet.