Muddled Boundaries of Digital Shrines

Nathalie Paton (1) , Julien Figeac (2)

1 LERASS - Laboratoire d'Etudes et de Recherches Appliquées en Sciences Sociales
2 LISST - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Solidarités, Sociétés, Territoires

Based on an online ethnography study of 274 YouTube videos posted during the Virginia Tech or the Newtown massacres, this article discusses how users resort to participatory media during such mediatized events to create a digital spontaneous shrine. The assemblage of this sanctuary on a website hosting billions of user-generated contents is made possible by means of folksonomy and website architecture, and a two-fold social dynamic based on participatory commitment and the institutionalization of a collective entity. Unlike “physical” spontaneous shrines erected in public spaces, these digital shrines connect the bereaved with provocative or outrageous contributions, notably tributes from school shooting fans using participatory media to commemorate the killer’s memory. This side effect, generated by the technical properties of the platform, compromises the tranquility of the memorial and muddles the boundaries and the contents of such sanctuaries.

Keywords: Digital spontaneous shrine; commemoration; media ritual; participatory culture; media event; school shooting; public sphere; YouTube.

Domains: Sociology

Nathalie Paton, Julien Figeac. Muddled Boundaries of Digital Shrines. Popular Communication, 2015, 13 (4), pp.251-271. ⟨10.1080/15405702.2015.1019072⟩. ⟨halshs-01228530⟩