Edwards-Hewitt recently reviewed Timothy Recuber's The Digital Departed: How We Face Death, Commemorate Life, and Chase Virtual Immortality, published in 2023 by the New York University Press. Below is a short excerpt from the review; the full review can be read here.
"The Digital Departed is positioned at the intersection of sociology, memory studies, and science and technology studies (STS)/communications studies. Scholars interested in a broad view of different types of digital media presence after a person has died will find this work a useful springboard for a range of topics that can be investigated more deeply. The research focus of the book are texts created by those who are dying or are dead. Recuber uses a mixed-methods approach combining archival research, digital ethnography, digital discourse analysis by coding themes and their frequencies, survey and interviews to examine how we interact with the dead online, and in some cases, how the dead’s online presence remains with us. Part of this includes social media posts by those who document their dying due to terminal illness or suicide. While the book does not go into graphic or inappropriate detail, this material, especially the material about suicide, may be difficult to read for those currently grieving."
February 26, 2026