research-article

"PS. I Love You": Understanding the Impact of Posthumous Digital Messages

Authors:

Sue Jamison-Powell,

Harriet GrossAuthors Info & Claims

CHI '16: Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Pages 2920 - 2932

https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858504

Published: 07 May 2016 Publication History

Abstract

A number of digital platforms and services have recently emerged that allow users to create posthumous forms of communication, effectively arranging for the delivery of messages from "beyond the grave". Despite some evidence of interest and popularity of these services, little is known about how posthumous messages may impact the people who receive them. We present a qualitative study that explores the type of experiences potentially triggered upon receiving such messages. Our findings firstly suggest that posthumous messaging services have the potential to alter the relationship between the bereaved and the deceased, and secondly provide insight into how users make sense of this altered relationship. Through the inference of a set of design considerations for posthumous communication services, we reveal a number of conflicts that are not easily solvable through technological means alone, and which may serve as starting points for further research. Our work extends the growing body of research that is concerned with digital interactions related to death and dying.

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Index Terms

"PS. I Love You": Understanding the Impact of Posthumous Digital Messages
1. Human-centered computing

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cover image ACM Conferences

CHI '16: Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

May 2016

6108 pages

ISBN:9781450333627

DOI:10.1145/2858036

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Jofish Kaye
Yahoo
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Allison Druin
University of Maryland / National Park Service
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Program Chairs:
Cliff Lampe
University of Michigan
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Dan Morris
Microsoft
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Juan Pablo Hourcade
University of Iowa

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Published: 07 May 2016

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642421
Doyle DBrubaker J(2024)"I Am So Overwhelmed I Don't Know Where to Begin!" Towards Developing Relationship-Based and Values-Based End-of-Life Data Planning ApproachesProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642250(1-14)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642250
Doyle DBrubaker J(2023)Digital Legacy: A Systematic Literature ReviewProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36100597:CSCW2(1-26)Online publication date: 4-Oct-2023
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Jung JSteinberger TKing JAckerman M(2023)How Bereaved Parents Make Meaning from Photos for Continuing BondsProceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3563657.3596071(1032-1046)Online publication date: 10-Jul-2023
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