Exploiting Loss?: Ethical Considerations, Boundaries, and Opportunities for the Study of Death and Grief Online

More people are turning to the Internet to communicate about dying, death, and grief experiences. This theoretical article explores the ethical dilemmas, challenges, and opportunities presented to researchers interested in exploring how death and grief are communicated online. Weaving together the literatures of computer-mediated communication and thanatology (dying and death), we discuss the ways in which many common ethical dilemmas uniquely manifest related to death and grief. We also explore the emotional impact studying death and grief online has on researchers and the importance of thinking about researcher emotions on scholars who study these issues. We end with recommendations of how to move forward in the dialogue about ethics and studying death and grief online.