The influence of social norms on expressing sympathy in social media

Increasingly, people are turning to social media express grief. By and large, however, the community can do little more than improvise reactions, not quite sure how use old familiar scripts as guides lending effective support. To examine role of in grieving process, we used a mixed-methods approach: 12 interviews with “social grievers” reveal expectations bereaved regarding other users’ behavior. way two online experiments 1058 participants, tested these met by messaging providers accordance norm theory. We found that injunctive messages particularly effective, whereas descriptive vary their effectiveness, depending on which information is presented prominently so. What our study shows, then, both potent socio-technical tools guide users towards empathetic behavior when dealing bereaved, so while may be substitute for therapy, they offer profound comfort those us bereavement