Digital Grief Performativity and the Conversion of Mourning into Social Currency on Social Media Platforms in Urban Nepal: A Sequential Explanatory Mixed-Methods Study Protocol

Digital Grief Performativity and the Conversion of Mourning into Social Currency on Social Media Platforms in Urban Nepal: A Sequential Explanatory Mixed-Methods Study Protocol | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Digital Grief Performativity and the Conversion of Mourning into Social Currency on Social Media Platforms in Urban Nepal: A Sequential Explanatory Mixed-Methods Study Protocol Sanjiya Shrestha This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9347610/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Social media platforms have fundamentally restructured grief expression in digitally connected societies. Rather than providing neutral venues for mourning, platforms shape bereavement through algorithmic amplification, quantified social validation, and monetization architectures. Despite growing scholarship on digital death, no study has examined how grief is systematically converted into social currency in a South Asian context, nor investigated the psychological consequences of this conversion for bereaved individuals in Nepal, where social media adoption has grown by over 340% since 2018 and where traditional Hindu and Buddhist mourning rituals are increasingly mediated through digital platforms. This study aims to identify and characterize the mechanisms through which digital grief is converted into social currency on social media platforms among bereaved Nepali social media users, and to examine the psychological and sociological consequences of this conversion. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design will be employed across three phases. Phase one will comprise 25 in-depth semi-structured interviews with bereaved Nepali social media users in Kathmandu, analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis. Phase two will apply systematic content analysis to a corpus of approximately 800 grief-related social media posts on Facebook and TikTok, the two dominant platforms in Nepal, using a 24-item provisional coding instrument. Phase three will administer a cross-sectional pilot survey (target N = 100) to bereaved Nepali adults using established instruments including the PG-13-R, PHQ-9, and GAD-7, supplemented by the provisional Digital Grief Performativity Scale (DGPS) developed for this study. We anticipate identifying platform-specific mechanisms through which grief is converted into social currency, documenting the psychological correlates of grief performativity among bereaved Nepali social media users, and generating a theoretically grounded framework for understanding digital bereavement in rapidly digitalizing South Asian societies. Findings will inform clinical bereavement practice, platform design ethics, and digital grief theory. study protocol digital grief grief performativity social currency Nepal mixed methods bereavement social media algorithmic mediation South Asia 1. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE In contemporary digitally mediated societies, mourning has become a public act subject to algorithmic governance. When a bereaved individual posts about the death of a loved one on Facebook or TikTok, they do not merely communicate grief to a social network. They submit bereavement to an automated system that determines, within milliseconds, whether their mourning will be seen by dozens or millions. This paper argues that the structural consequences of that adjudication are profound, clinically significant, and systematically underexamined — and that Nepal, as a rapidly digitalizing South Asian society with strongly structured traditional mourning practices, represents an important and entirely unstudied context for this inquiry. Death and grief have always been social. Nepali mourning practices are deeply structured by Hindu and Buddhist ritual frameworks that prescribe specific periods, behaviors, and communal roles for the bereaved. The shraddha ceremony, the thirteen-day tehra mourning period, and the obligations of collective lamentation impose formal structure on bereavement expression within bounded community settings [ 1 , 2 ]. These practices are simultaneously highly social and tightly regulated by communal norms — a structural condition that creates particular analytical richness when mourning migrates to the unregulated front stage of social media platforms, where different and potentially conflicting norms of emotional expression apply. Nepal's digital transformation over the past decade has fundamentally altered the communication landscape within which these mourning practices unfold. Facebook penetration exceeded 12 million users by 2024, representing approximately 40% of the population, while TikTok has grown explosively among urban youth [ 3 ]. Despite this, no published study has examined how bereaved Nepalis navigate the intersection of traditional mourning obligations and the performative demands of social media platforms. The present study addresses this gap directly. Classical models of grief — including the five-stage model [ 4 ], the tasks of mourning [ 5 ], and the Dual Process Model [ 6 ] — were developed in a pre-digital era and assume that grief is a bounded, progressive process oriented toward resolution. None account for a world in which mourning posts can be algorithmically surfaced for years after a death, or in which the receipt of social validation may structurally incentivize the prolongation of publicly visible grief. The adequacy of these models for the digital age in South Asian contexts is one of the central questions this study will address. We introduce the concept of social currency as the central organizing construct of this study. Drawing on Bourdieu [ 7 ], we define grief-derived social currency as the symbolic, social, and economic capital accrued through the public performance of bereavement on digital platforms. We further draw on Goffman's [ 8 ] dramaturgical framework, Butler's [ 9 ] theory of performativity, and continuing bonds theory [ 10 ] to develop the concept of digital grief performativity: the process through which grief expression is constituted, shaped, and potentially transformed by platform interactions. The theoretical framework is developed fully in section two. The study makes four primary contributions to scholarship. First, it will provide the first empirical examination of digital grief performativity and social currency in a South Asian context. Second, it will identify the mechanisms through which grief is converted into social currency on digital platforms in Nepal. Third, it will examine the psychological consequences of grief performativity for bereaved Nepali social media users. Fourth, it will develop a provisional measurement instrument — the Digital Grief Performativity Scale — for use in future research. 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1 Goffman's Dramaturgical Framework Goffman's [ 8 ] dramaturgical theory conceptualizes social interaction as theatrical performance in which individuals present curated versions of themselves to audiences in front-stage regions while managing backstage realities. Applied to digital grief, the social media platform constitutes a front stage in which mourning is curated and presented to an anticipated audience. The bereaved individual becomes a performer navigating questions of authenticity, emotional appropriateness, and audience expectation. Critically, digital platforms introduce a quantified audience response — likes, shares, comments — that is continuously visible to the performer and may create feedback loops altering the grief performance itself. We introduce the concept of grief dissonance to describe the psychological cost of maintaining a front-stage grief performance that diverges from backstage emotional experience. 2.2 Bourdieu's Field Theory and Social Currency Bourdieu's [ 7 ] theory of capital distinguishes economic capital, cultural capital, and social capital. We propose that social media platforms constitute a digital grief field with its own rules of capital conversion. Within this field, public performances of loss generate symbolic capital in the form of social recognition, follower growth, and emotional influence. This symbolic capital can be further converted into social, cultural, and economic capital — a process we term grief-to-currency conversion. We propose four mechanisms through which this conversion occurs, to be examined empirically: dramaturgical staging, algorithmic co-authorship, the grief engagement loop, and stratified capital accumulation. These mechanisms are defined operationally in the methodology section. 2.3 Continuing Bonds Theory Klass, Silverman, and Nickman's [ 10 ] continuing bonds theory argues that maintaining an ongoing symbolic relationship with the deceased is normal and adaptive. This framework has been applied to digital memorialization [ 11 , 12 ]. However, we propose a critical complication: if maintaining a public continuing bond generates social currency, platforms may structurally incentivize the perpetuation of the bond regardless of its adaptive value. This tension between algorithmically incentivized and psychologically adaptive continuing bonds will be examined empirically. 2.4 Affective Labor Hochschild's [ 13 ] emotional labor concept, extended by Hardt and Negri [ 14 ] to affective labor, designates work whose primary product is an affective state rather than a material object. We propose that digital grief constitutes affective labor: the bereaved individual produces emotional content whose primary social product is an affective response in the audience, while the platform extracts commercial value from the engagement data produced. We term the asymmetry between labor expended and compensation received the grief labor gap. 3. LITERATURE REVIEW 3.1 Digital Death and Online Mourning The scholarly literature on digital death has developed rapidly since Walter et al.'s [ 15 ] foundational analysis identifying social media as a novel mourning site. Brubaker, Hayes, and Dourish [ 11 ] documented the Facebook profile of the deceased as an ongoing communal mourning space. DeGroot [ 16 ] identified four communicative functions of memorial pages. Gibbs et al. [ 17 ] examined platform-specific mourning vernaculars on Twitter. Giaxoglou [ 18 ] conceptualized grief posts as small stories through which bereavement identity is performed and constituted. Despite this growing literature, the mechanisms through which grief becomes social currency have not been theorized or empirically examined, and no study has been conducted in a South Asian context. 3.2 Mourning Culture and Digital Media in Nepal Nepal's mourning practices are governed by Hindu and Buddhist frameworks prescribing specific ritual structures, including the shraddha ceremony, the tehra mourning period, and communal lamentation obligations [ 1 , 2 ]. These practices embed grief within tightly bounded community structures, creating a sharp contrast with the unbounded public audiences of digital platforms. Nepal's rapid social media growth — Facebook at 40% penetration and TikTok growing at over 60% among 18–35 year olds in urban areas as of 2024 [ 3 ] — means that bereaved Nepalis are increasingly navigating both traditional ritual obligations and digital audience expectations simultaneously. No published study has examined how this negotiation unfolds, nor what its psychological consequences are. 3.3 Algorithmic Governance and AI Systems in Care Environments Bucher's [ 19 ] concept of the algorithmic imaginary demonstrates that users develop intuitive models of algorithmic operation that shape content production. Gillespie's [ 20 ] framework of platforms as editorial agents frames algorithmic ranking as a normative practice determining whose emotional expression achieves visibility. Empirical research documents that algorithms systematically amplify emotionally intense content [ 21 , 22 ], a structural bias with significant consequences for grief content amplification. The deployment of AI systems in healthcare and care environments — including real-time health monitoring [ 23 ], clinical diagnostics [ 24 ], robotic companions in care settings [ 25 ], and AI educational platforms [ 26 ] — further situates this study within a broader inquiry into how AI systems mediate intimate human experiences including grief and bereavement. Machine learning anomaly detection systems [ 27 ] provide an instructive structural analogy for understanding how social media grief classification algorithms construct normative templates of acceptable grief expression. 3.4 Grief Outcomes and Social Media Online social support buffers the adverse psychological effects of loss [ 28 ], but passive consumption of grief content is associated with depressive symptomatology [ 29 ]. Social validation increases positive affect in non-grief contexts [ 30 ], but whether this applies to bereavement populations is unknown. Stroebe et al. [ 31 ] demonstrate that social factors can override adaptive grief processing. No study has examined social validation seeking as a behavioral pattern with measurable consequences for grief resolution outcomes in a South Asian context, constituting the primary empirical gap this study addresses. 4. AIMS, OBJECTIVES, AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS 4.1 Primary Aim To investigate how social media platforms convert grief into social currency among bereaved Nepali social media users in Kathmandu, and to examine the psychological and sociological consequences of this conversion. 4.2 Specific Objectives 1. To identify and theorize the mechanisms through which grief is converted into social currency on Facebook and TikTok among bereaved Nepali users [7, 8]. 2. To document platform-specific differences in grief performativity markers across Facebook and TikTok in the Nepali context. 3. To examine associations between grief performativity, social validation seeking, and prolonged grief disorder symptomatology in a pilot cross-sectional sample. 4. To develop and provisionally validate the Digital Grief Performativity Scale (DGPS) as a pilot measurement instrument for future research. 5. To situate digital grief performativity within the specific cultural context of Nepali mourning practices, generating culturally grounded theory applicable to South Asian and other rapidly digitalizing societies. 4.3 Research Questions Table 1 Research questions by study phase RQ Question Phase RQ1 How do bereaved Nepali social media users experience and describe the performative dimensions of public grief expression? Phase 1 RQ2 What mechanisms drive the conversion of grief into social currency on Facebook and TikTok in Nepal? Phase 1 + 2 RQ3 How do grief performativity markers differ between Facebook and TikTok in the Nepali corpus? Phase 2 RQ4 Is social validation seeking associated with prolonged grief symptomatology in the pilot survey sample? Phase 3 RQ5 How do traditional Nepali mourning norms shape the experience of grief performativity on digital platforms? Phase 1 5. METHODOLOGY 5.1 Research Design A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design will be employed [ 32 ]. In this design, Phase 1 qualitative findings will generate conceptual grounding and inform instrument development, Phase 2 computational findings will document behavioral patterns at scale, and Phase 3 quantitative findings will examine statistical associations. This design is appropriate for a study in which theoretical understanding of a novel phenomenon must precede quantitative measurement, and where the psychological consequences of a socially embedded behavior require both interpretive and statistical examination. The sequential explanatory design has been applied successfully in analogous studies of digital social behavior and mental health outcomes [ 19 , 28 ]. 5.2 Phase 1: In-Depth Interviews Participants and sampling Purposive maximum variation sampling will be employed to recruit 25 bereaved adults residing in Kathmandu, Nepal. Inclusion criteria: (a) bereavement through the death of a significant other within the preceding 24 months; (b) publicly posted about the loss on at least one social media platform; (c) aged 18 or above; (d) ability to participate in Nepali or English. Participants will be recruited through the Nepal Mental Health Foundation, Kathmandu-based bereavement support groups, and targeted social media advertising. Maximum variation will be sought across relationship to the deceased, cause of death, platform use, age, gender, and socioeconomic background. A sample of 25 is appropriate for reflexive thematic analysis where theoretical saturation rather than statistical representativeness is the goal (Braun and Clarke, 2021). Data collection Semi-structured interviews will be conducted in person or via secure video call, in Nepali or English according to participant preference. An interview guide has been developed through consultation with two senior Nepali social work practitioners and will be piloted with three participants prior to main data collection. Topics will include: the decision to post about the loss publicly; the composition of grief content; the experience of receiving audience responses; the relationship between public mourning and private grief; perceptions of platform influence; and the relationship between digital mourning and traditional Nepali mourning practices. All interviews will be audio recorded with participant consent, transcribed by the researcher, and Nepali transcripts translated by a certified bilingual translator with relevant social science research experience. Back-translation will be conducted on a random 30% sub-sample to verify semantic equivalence. Analysis Reflexive thematic analysis will be employed following Braun and Clarke's [ 33 ] six-phase protocol: familiarization; initial coding; theme construction; theme review; theme definition and naming; and analytic narrative production. The researcher will maintain an analytical journal throughout to document interpretive decisions and support reflexivity. Member checking will be conducted with a sub-sample of participants to verify interpretive accuracy. 5.3 Phase 2: Systematic Content Analysis Corpus construction A corpus of approximately 800 grief-related social media posts will be assembled from Facebook and TikTok, reflecting their dominant position in the Nepali social media landscape. Posts will be identified through: (a) hashtag searches in Nepali and English; (b) keyword searches for grief disclosure language identified in Phase 1; and (c) manual identification by the researcher. All personally identifying information will be removed prior to analysis in compliance with Nepal's Privacy Act 2075 (2018) and APA internet research ethics guidelines. Data collection will occur over a four-month period following Phase 1 completion. Coding instrument A 24-item provisional coding instrument will be developed through an iterative process combining deductive codes derived from the theoretical framework and inductive codes emerging from Phase 1 findings. The instrument will be organized into five dimensions: staging and production quality; audience address orientation; emotional intensity and calibration; narrative structure; and social capital seeking. Each item will be coded on a five-point scale. Inter-rater reliability will be established through double-coding of 15% of the corpus by a second trained coder, targeting a Cohen's kappa of .75 or above. 5.4 Phase 3: Cross-Sectional Pilot Survey Participants A cross-sectional survey will be administered to a target sample of 100 bereaved adults in Kathmandu, recruited through the same channels as Phase 1 with Phase 1 participants excluded. Consistent with pilot survey methodology, this sample size is sufficient to detect medium-to-large effect sizes and to provide preliminary psychometric data for the DGPS instrument. A sample size of 80 to 100 is recommended for pilot studies whose primary purpose includes instrument development and preliminary effect estimation (Hertzog, 2008). A post-hoc power analysis will be conducted and reported with the findings. Measures The following instruments will be administered: (1) Prolonged Grief Disorder scale Revised (PG-13-R) [ 34 ] for grief symptomatology; (2) Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) [ 35 ] for depression; (3) Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) [ 36 ] for anxiety; (4) Digital Grief Performativity Scale (DGPS), a provisional 28-item instrument developed for this study across four subscales (grief staging behavior, audience orientation, social validation seeking, platform dependency). The DGPS will be piloted in this phase and subjected to exploratory factor analysis. Its psychometric properties will be reported in full and the scale should be regarded as provisional, requiring confirmatory validation in future research. Participants will also report platform use frequency, estimated engagement received on grief posts, weeks elapsed since bereavement, and sociodemographic information. Analysis Descriptive statistics and internal consistency estimates will be computed for all measures. Exploratory factor analysis (principal axis factoring, oblimin rotation) will be conducted for the DGPS, with factor loadings reported in full. Multiple regression analysis will examine associations between DGPS subscales, social validation received, and PG-13-R scores after controlling for relevant covariates. All findings will be reported as pilot estimates with appropriate caveats regarding the sample size and the need for replication. 5.5 Integration Strategy Findings from the three phases will be integrated through a narrative integration approach at two points: first, Phase 1 qualitative themes will inform the finalization of Phase 2 coding instrument and Phase 3 DGPS item wording; second, after all data collection, a joint display will synthesize qualitative mechanisms, behavioral patterns, and quantitative associations into an integrated explanatory model of digital grief performativity in Nepal. Convergence, complementarity, and divergence between phases will be explicitly documented and theorized. 6. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS Full ethical approval will be sought from the Institutional Review Committee of the Central Department of Social Work, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal (Application Reference: CDSW-TU/2024/031) prior to any data collection. Data collection will not commence until approval is confirmed. All interview participants will provide written informed consent in Nepali or English and will be informed of their right to withdraw at any point without consequence. A distress protocol will be in place throughout the interview phase, with referral pathways established to the Nepal Mental Health Foundation for participants experiencing acute grief distress. Social media data will be collected and processed in compliance with Nepal's Privacy Act 2075 (2018) and the APA ethical guidelines for internet-mediated research. All personally identifying information will be removed prior to analysis, and data will be stored on an encrypted institutional server. No individual participants will be identifiable in any published output. The study will be registered on the Open Science Framework prior to data collection commencement, and the study protocol, coding instruments, and anonymized datasets will be made publicly available following publication of the study findings. 7. EXPECTED OUTCOMES AND SIGNIFICANCE 7.1 Theoretical Contributions This study will make three theoretical contributions. First, it will extend Goffman's [ 8 ] dramaturgical framework and Bourdieu's [ 7 ] field theory into the domain of digital grief, proposing the grief currency market as a novel theoretical construct. Second, it will advance continuing bonds theory [ 10 ] by examining how platform architecture may structurally incentivize the perpetuation of digital bonds with the deceased, complicating the distinction between adaptive and maladaptive continuing bonds. Third, it will generate the first culturally grounded account of digital grief performativity in a South Asian context, challenging the implicit Western-centrism of existing digital death scholarship. 7.2 Empirical Contributions The study will generate the first empirical data on digital grief performativity among bereaved Nepali social media users. The content analysis will document platform-specific performativity patterns in a Nepali social media corpus. The pilot survey will provide preliminary data on the association between grief performativity and psychological outcomes, establishing the foundation for a fully powered longitudinal follow-up study. The provisional DGPS will provide a starting point for the psychometric development of a dedicated grief performativity measure. 7.3 Practical and Policy Contributions Findings will have direct implications for clinical bereavement practice in Nepal and other rapidly digitalizing South Asian societies, where mental health practitioners are increasingly encountering clients whose grief processes are shaped by social media dynamics that existing clinical frameworks do not address. Findings will also inform platform design ethics by providing empirical evidence on how platform architecture affects bereaved users in non-Western contexts — a perspective almost entirely absent from existing platform governance debates. The study will additionally contribute to the growing literature on AI systems and human wellbeing [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ], situating social media grief algorithms within the broader context of AI-mediated intimate experience. 7.4 Anticipated Limitations Several limitations are anticipated. First, the pilot sample sizes across all three phases will limit statistical power and generalizability, and all quantitative findings should be treated as preliminary estimates requiring replication. Second, recruitment through bereavement support organizations may over-represent individuals with reflective relationships to their grief processes. Third, restriction to Kathmandu-based participants limits generalizability to rural Nepal and other South Asian contexts. Fourth, the DGPS will require independent psychometric validation. These limitations will be addressed through the fully powered follow-up study for which the present protocol establishes the foundation. 8. STUDY TIMELINE Table 2 Proposed study timeline (12 months total) Phase Activity Duration Timeline Preparation IRC ethics approval; instrument development and pilot; OSF registration; recruitment materials 2 months Month 1–2 Phase 1 Interview recruitment; data collection (n = 25); transcription and translation; reflexive thematic analysis 4 months Month 3–6 Phase 2 Social media corpus construction; coding instrument finalisation; content analysis of ~ 800 posts; reliability testing 3 months Month 6–8 Phase 3 Survey instrument finalisation; recruitment; data collection (target N = 100); statistical analysis 3 months Month 7–9 Integration Cross-phase integration; joint display; theoretical synthesis; manuscript preparation 3 months Month 10–12 Dissemination Preprint deposit (Research Square); journal submission; conference presentation Ongoing Month 12+ 9. DISSEMINATION PLAN Study findings will be disseminated through multiple channels. The study protocol will be deposited on Research Square as a preprint prior to data collection, establishing priority on the research question and inviting methodological feedback from the scholarly community. Following data collection and analysis, the results paper will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal in the field of death studies or digital sociology, with Death Studies, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, and New Media and Society identified as primary target journals. The provisional DGPS instrument and anonymized datasets will be deposited in the OSF repository to support open science and facilitate independent replication and validation. Findings will also be shared with the Nepal Mental Health Foundation and presented at relevant national and international conferences. Declarations Ethics and Consent: Ethical approval application has been submitted to the Institutional Review Committee of the Central Department of Social Work, Tribhuvan University (Application Ref: CDSW-TU/2024/031). Data collection will not commence prior to formal approval. All participants will provide written informed consent. Trial Registration: This protocol will be registered on the Open Science Framework (OSF) prior to data collection. The OSF registration DOI will be added upon confirmation. Funding: This study will be self-funded as part of the author's academic work at the Central Department of Social Work, Tribhuvan University. No external funding is involved. Competing Interests: The author declares no competing interests. Author Contributions: Sanjiya Shrestha is the sole investigator. She developed the theoretical framework, designed the study protocol, developed all study instruments, drafted this manuscript, and will conduct all phases of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Positionality: As a Nepali social work researcher at Tribhuvan University, the author has first-hand familiarity with Facebook and TikTok as primary social communication platforms in urban Nepal and has observed grief performativity dynamics within local social and professional networks. The author's social work training, with its person-in-environment framework, informs the structural rather than individualistic analytical approach. The author will maintain an analytical journal throughout the study to support reflexivity and document interpretive decisions. Acknowledgements: The author thanks the faculty of the Central Department of Social Work, Tribhuvan University, for supervisory support, and the Nepal Mental Health Foundation for their commitment to supporting participant recruitment. References Bennett L (1983) Dangerous wives and sacred sisters: Social and symbolic roles of high-caste women in Nepal. Columbia University Michaels A (2004) The practice of dying: Observations on a Hindu good death in Kathmandu. In: Michaels A (ed) Dealing with death: Perspectives on death and dying. Lit, pp 15–40 Nepal Telecommunications Authority (2024) Annual report 2023/2024: MIS report on telecom service. NTA Kübler-Ross E (1969) On death and dying. Macmillan Worden JW (1982) Grief counselling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health practitioner. Springer Stroebe M, Schut H (1999) The dual process model of coping with bereavement: Rationale and description. Death Stud 23(3):197–224 Bourdieu P (1986) The forms of capital. In: Richardson J (ed) Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education. Greenwood, pp 241–258 Goffman E (1959) The presentation of self in everyday life. Anchor Books Butler J (1990) Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. Routledge Klass D, Silverman PR, Nickman SL (eds) (1996) Continuing bonds: New understandings of grief. Taylor and Francis Brubaker JR, Hayes GR, Dourish P (2013) Beyond the grave: Facebook as a site for the expansion of death and mourning. Inf Soc 29(3):152–163 Bassett D (2022) Digital afterlives: From social media platforms to thanabots and beyond. Mortality 27(1):1–17 Hochschild AR (1983) The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling. University of California Press Hardt M, Negri A, Empire (2000) Harvard University Press Walter T, Hourizi R, Moncur W, Pitsillides S (2012) Does the internet change how we die and mourn? Omega 64(4):275–302 DeGroot JM (2012) Maintaining relational continuity with the deceased on Facebook. Omega 65(3):195–212 Gibbs M, Meese J, Arnold M, Nansen B, Carter M (2015) #Funeral and Instagram: Death, social media, and platform vernacular. Inf Commun Soc 18(3):255–268 Giaxoglou K (2020) A narrative approach to social media mourning: Small stories and affective positioning. Routledge Bucher T (2018) If… then: Algorithmic power and politics. Oxford University Press Gillespie T (2014) The relevance of algorithms. In: Gillespie T, Boczkowski P, Foot K (eds) Media technologies. MIT Press, pp 167–194 Brady WJ, Wills JA, Jost JT, Tucker JA, Van Bavel JJ (2017) Emotion shapes the diffusion of moralized content in social networks. Proc Natl Acad Sci 114(28):7313–7318 Rathje S, Van Bavel JJ, Van der Linden S (2021) Out-group animosity drives engagement on social media. Proc Natl Acad Sci 118(26):e2024292118 Giri A, Hasib A, Islam M, Tazim MF, Rahman MDS, Khadgi M et al (2025) Real-time human fall detection using YOLOv5 on Raspberry Pi: An edge AI solution for smart healthcare and safety monitoring. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Data Analytics and Management; pp. 493–507 Uddin AZMJ, Begum MR, Akib ASMAS, Islam K, Hasib A, Giri A et al (2025) LungNet: An interpretable machine learning framework for early lung cancer detection using structured clinical data. In: Proceedings of the 2025 IEEE 13th Conference on Systems, Process and Control; pp. 181–186 Akib ASMAS, Giri A, Islam M, Sifa FJ, Elahi TA, Aktia AN et al (2024) Design and simulation of a quadruped robot. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Data-Processing and Networking; pp. 373–385 Giri A, Akib ASMAS, Uddin AZMJ, Rahman MS, Hasib A, Khadgi M et al (2025) EduBot: A low-cost multilingual AI educational robot for inclusive and scalable learning. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on AI, Blockchain and Internet of Things Giri A, Das SR, Joy AZMJU, Akib ASM, Misat MMH, Khadgi M et al (2025) Smart IoT egg incubator system with machine learning for damaged egg detection. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on WorldS4; pp. 236–245 Vanderwerker LC, Prigerson HG (2004) Social support and technological connectedness as protective factors in bereavement. J Loss Trauma 9(1):45–57 Gao M, Ding R, Zhang Y (2020) Passive social media use and depression among bereaved adults. Comput Hum Behav 112:106462 McNiel JM, Fleeson W (2006) The causal effects of extraversion on positive affect and neuroticism on negative affect. J Res Pers 40(5):529–550 Stroebe M, Schut H, Stroebe W (2010) Grief matters: Differential effects of coping and social support on bereavement outcome. Soc Sci Med 70(8):1219–1226 Creswell JW, Plano Clark VL (2018) Designing and conducting mixed methods research, 3rd edn. SAGE Braun V, Clarke V (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual Res Psychol 3(2):77–101 Prigerson HG, Boelen PA, Xu J, Smith KV, Maciejewski PK (2021) Validation of the new DSM-5-TR criteria for prolonged grief disorder and the PG-13-Revised (PG-13-R) scale. World Psychiatry 20(1):96–106 Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JBW (2001) The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. J Gen Intern Med 16(9):606–613 Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW, Lowe B (2006) A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder. Arch Intern Med 166(10):1092–1097 Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9347610","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":619097378,"identity":"13f8eb91-cf12-440c-b3fc-a2ea580f77f5","order_by":0,"name":"Sanjiya Shrestha","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABNElEQVRIie2QMUvEMBTHXwikS7Drlar9CjkKN+ndV0kpZCoiCILccIJQl5Ouil+iU+ZC4Lqoc+BuuCo4uXQ4aMHBtOCgtOgo2N8QXpL34/0TgIGBPwrjzTpq6wwItsutqeje7xSegW1d+qxRyI+zPhVnmU3auk/xrh+z0yKegnd/UxR1tfGY5uJiF033CeDiWXeEejjhLIhDYJvc9yl/Haear9YHMjTBiO9HHQpEzCgY2EgQF7hCqQ7itSOxUShxOxQveWuUBXi3wqorrmapDsmZIxe9Cuh2ijKFMD1cBXfLFUGlVL0K02YKf8op0wK7VKgwsZbYRTKnBHe/xUuiybg6nx+aYKisjtRxjCkqazmf2dZV8dIVzPw/QybDlyPcbnFne3uzhfdvR6jq7R4YGBj4h3wAGAZjlEq5em8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2291-8146","institution":"Tribhuvan University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sanjiya","middleName":"","lastName":"Shrestha","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-07 16:16:07","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9347610/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9347610/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106403840,"identity":"670ef739-3905-4e3e-b1bb-b9e97f13ad8f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-08 09:15:03","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":687629,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9347610/v1/0247afb3-eb25-4f44-a11c-7ddc027cce2c.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDigital Grief Performativity and the Conversion of Mourning into Social Currency on Social Media Platforms in Urban Nepal: \u003c/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Sequential Explanatory Mixed-Methods Study Protocol\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"1. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn contemporary digitally mediated societies, mourning has become a public act subject to algorithmic governance. When a bereaved individual posts about the death of a loved one on Facebook or TikTok, they do not merely communicate grief to a social network. They submit bereavement to an automated system that determines, within milliseconds, whether their mourning will be seen by dozens or millions. This paper argues that the structural consequences of that adjudication are profound, clinically significant, and systematically underexamined \u0026mdash; and that Nepal, as a rapidly digitalizing South Asian society with strongly structured traditional mourning practices, represents an important and entirely unstudied context for this inquiry.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDeath and grief have always been social. Nepali mourning practices are deeply structured by Hindu and Buddhist ritual frameworks that prescribe specific periods, behaviors, and communal roles for the bereaved. The shraddha ceremony, the thirteen-day tehra mourning period, and the obligations of collective lamentation impose formal structure on bereavement expression within bounded community settings [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e]. These practices are simultaneously highly social and tightly regulated by communal norms \u0026mdash; a structural condition that creates particular analytical richness when mourning migrates to the unregulated front stage of social media platforms, where different and potentially conflicting norms of emotional expression apply.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNepal's digital transformation over the past decade has fundamentally altered the communication landscape within which these mourning practices unfold. Facebook penetration exceeded 12\u0026nbsp;million users by 2024, representing approximately 40% of the population, while TikTok has grown explosively among urban youth [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e]. Despite this, no published study has examined how bereaved Nepalis navigate the intersection of traditional mourning obligations and the performative demands of social media platforms. The present study addresses this gap directly.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eClassical models of grief \u0026mdash; including the five-stage model [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e], the tasks of mourning [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e], and the Dual Process Model [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e] \u0026mdash; were developed in a pre-digital era and assume that grief is a bounded, progressive process oriented toward resolution. None account for a world in which mourning posts can be algorithmically surfaced for years after a death, or in which the receipt of social validation may structurally incentivize the prolongation of publicly visible grief. The adequacy of these models for the digital age in South Asian contexts is one of the central questions this study will address.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe introduce the concept of social currency as the central organizing construct of this study. Drawing on Bourdieu [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e], we define grief-derived social currency as the symbolic, social, and economic capital accrued through the public performance of bereavement on digital platforms. We further draw on Goffman's [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e] dramaturgical framework, Butler's [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e] theory of performativity, and continuing bonds theory [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e] to develop the concept of digital grief performativity: the process through which grief expression is constituted, shaped, and potentially transformed by platform interactions. The theoretical framework is developed fully in section two.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe study makes four primary contributions to scholarship. First, it will provide the first empirical examination of digital grief performativity and social currency in a South Asian context. Second, it will identify the mechanisms through which grief is converted into social currency on digital platforms in Nepal. Third, it will examine the psychological consequences of grief performativity for bereaved Nepali social media users. Fourth, it will develop a provisional measurement instrument \u0026mdash; the Digital Grief Performativity Scale \u0026mdash; for use in future research.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.1 Goffman's Dramaturgical Framework\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eGoffman's [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e] dramaturgical theory conceptualizes social interaction as theatrical performance in which individuals present curated versions of themselves to audiences in front-stage regions while managing backstage realities. Applied to digital grief, the social media platform constitutes a front stage in which mourning is curated and presented to an anticipated audience. The bereaved individual becomes a performer navigating questions of authenticity, emotional appropriateness, and audience expectation. Critically, digital platforms introduce a quantified audience response \u0026mdash; likes, shares, comments \u0026mdash; that is continuously visible to the performer and may create feedback loops altering the grief performance itself. We introduce the concept of grief dissonance to describe the psychological cost of maintaining a front-stage grief performance that diverges from backstage emotional experience.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2 Bourdieu's Field Theory and Social Currency\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eBourdieu's [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e] theory of capital distinguishes economic capital, cultural capital, and social capital. We propose that social media platforms constitute a digital grief field with its own rules of capital conversion. Within this field, public performances of loss generate symbolic capital in the form of social recognition, follower growth, and emotional influence. This symbolic capital can be further converted into social, cultural, and economic capital \u0026mdash; a process we term grief-to-currency conversion. We propose four mechanisms through which this conversion occurs, to be examined empirically: dramaturgical staging, algorithmic co-authorship, the grief engagement loop, and stratified capital accumulation. These mechanisms are defined operationally in the methodology section.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3 Continuing Bonds Theory\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eKlass, Silverman, and Nickman's [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e] continuing bonds theory argues that maintaining an ongoing symbolic relationship with the deceased is normal and adaptive. This framework has been applied to digital memorialization [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e]. However, we propose a critical complication: if maintaining a public continuing bond generates social currency, platforms may structurally incentivize the perpetuation of the bond regardless of its adaptive value. This tension between algorithmically incentivized and psychologically adaptive continuing bonds will be examined empirically.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.4 Affective Labor\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eHochschild's [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e] emotional labor concept, extended by Hardt and Negri [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e] to affective labor, designates work whose primary product is an affective state rather than a material object. We propose that digital grief constitutes affective labor: the bereaved individual produces emotional content whose primary social product is an affective response in the audience, while the platform extracts commercial value from the engagement data produced. We term the asymmetry between labor expended and compensation received the grief labor gap.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. LITERATURE REVIEW","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1 Digital Death and Online Mourning\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe scholarly literature on digital death has developed rapidly since Walter et al.'s [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e] foundational analysis identifying social media as a novel mourning site. Brubaker, Hayes, and Dourish [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e] documented the Facebook profile of the deceased as an ongoing communal mourning space. DeGroot [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e] identified four communicative functions of memorial pages. Gibbs et al. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e] examined platform-specific mourning vernaculars on Twitter. Giaxoglou [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e] conceptualized grief posts as small stories through which bereavement identity is performed and constituted. Despite this growing literature, the mechanisms through which grief becomes social currency have not been theorized or empirically examined, and no study has been conducted in a South Asian context.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.2 Mourning Culture and Digital Media in Nepal\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eNepal's mourning practices are governed by Hindu and Buddhist frameworks prescribing specific ritual structures, including the shraddha ceremony, the tehra mourning period, and communal lamentation obligations [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e]. These practices embed grief within tightly bounded community structures, creating a sharp contrast with the unbounded public audiences of digital platforms. Nepal's rapid social media growth \u0026mdash; Facebook at 40% penetration and TikTok growing at over 60% among 18\u0026ndash;35 year olds in urban areas as of 2024 [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e] \u0026mdash; means that bereaved Nepalis are increasingly navigating both traditional ritual obligations and digital audience expectations simultaneously. No published study has examined how this negotiation unfolds, nor what its psychological consequences are.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.3 Algorithmic Governance and AI Systems in Care Environments\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eBucher's [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e] concept of the algorithmic imaginary demonstrates that users develop intuitive models of algorithmic operation that shape content production. Gillespie's [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e] framework of platforms as editorial agents frames algorithmic ranking as a normative practice determining whose emotional expression achieves visibility. Empirical research documents that algorithms systematically amplify emotionally intense content [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e], a structural bias with significant consequences for grief content amplification. The deployment of AI systems in healthcare and care environments \u0026mdash; including real-time health monitoring [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e], clinical diagnostics [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e], robotic companions in care settings [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e], and AI educational platforms [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e] \u0026mdash; further situates this study within a broader inquiry into how AI systems mediate intimate human experiences including grief and bereavement. Machine learning anomaly detection systems [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e] provide an instructive structural analogy for understanding how social media grief classification algorithms construct normative templates of acceptable grief expression.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.4 Grief Outcomes and Social Media\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eOnline social support buffers the adverse psychological effects of loss [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e], but passive consumption of grief content is associated with depressive symptomatology [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e]. Social validation increases positive affect in non-grief contexts [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003e], but whether this applies to bereavement populations is unknown. Stroebe et al. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e31\u003c/span\u003e] demonstrate that social factors can override adaptive grief processing. No study has examined social validation seeking as a behavioral pattern with measurable consequences for grief resolution outcomes in a South Asian context, constituting the primary empirical gap this study addresses.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4. AIMS, OBJECTIVES, AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e4.1 Primary Aim\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTo investigate how social media platforms convert grief into social currency among bereaved Nepali social media users in Kathmandu, and to examine the psychological and sociological consequences of this conversion.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4.2 Specific Objectives\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 1. To identify and theorize the mechanisms through which grief is converted into social currency on Facebook and TikTok among bereaved Nepali users [7,\u0026nbsp;8].\u003cbr\u003e 2. To document platform-specific differences in grief performativity markers across Facebook and TikTok in the Nepali context.\u003cbr\u003e 3. To examine associations between grief performativity, social validation seeking, and prolonged grief disorder symptomatology in a pilot cross-sectional sample.\u003cbr\u003e 4. To develop and provisionally validate the Digital Grief Performativity Scale (DGPS) as a pilot measurement instrument for future research.\u003cbr\u003e 5. To situate digital grief performativity within the specific cultural context of Nepali mourning practices, generating culturally grounded theory applicable to South Asian and other rapidly digitalizing societies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e4.3 Research Questions \u0026nbsp;\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eResearch questions by study phase\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003eRQ\u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003eQuestion\u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003ePhase\u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003eRQ1\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003eHow do bereaved Nepali social media users experience and describe the performative dimensions of public grief expression?\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003ePhase 1\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003eRQ2\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003eWhat mechanisms drive the conversion of grief into social currency on Facebook and TikTok in Nepal?\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003ePhase 1 + 2\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003eRQ3\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003eHow do grief performativity markers differ between Facebook and TikTok in the Nepali corpus?\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003ePhase 2\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003eRQ4\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003eIs social validation seeking associated with prolonged grief symptomatology in the pilot survey sample?\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003ePhase 3\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003eRQ5\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003eHow do traditional Nepali mourning norms shape the experience of grief performativity on digital platforms?\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003ePhase 1\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"5. METHODOLOGY","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e5.1 Research Design\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eA sequential explanatory mixed-methods design will be employed [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e]. In this design, Phase 1 qualitative findings will generate conceptual grounding and inform instrument development, Phase 2 computational findings will document behavioral patterns at scale, and Phase 3 quantitative findings will examine statistical associations. This design is appropriate for a study in which theoretical understanding of a novel phenomenon must precede quantitative measurement, and where the psychological consequences of a socially embedded behavior require both interpretive and statistical examination. The sequential explanatory design has been applied successfully in analogous studies of digital social behavior and mental health outcomes [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec17\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e5.2 Phase 1: In-Depth Interviews\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cspan type=\"Underline\" class=\"Underline\" name=\"Emphasis\"\u003eParticipants and sampling\u003c/span\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePurposive maximum variation sampling will be employed to recruit 25 bereaved adults residing in Kathmandu, Nepal. Inclusion criteria: (a) bereavement through the death of a significant other within the preceding 24 months; (b) publicly posted about the loss on at least one social media platform; (c) aged 18 or above; (d) ability to participate in Nepali or English. Participants will be recruited through the Nepal Mental Health Foundation, Kathmandu-based bereavement support groups, and targeted social media advertising. Maximum variation will be sought across relationship to the deceased, cause of death, platform use, age, gender, and socioeconomic background. A sample of 25 is appropriate for reflexive thematic analysis where theoretical saturation rather than statistical representativeness is the goal (Braun and Clarke, 2021).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cspan type=\"Underline\" class=\"Underline\" name=\"Emphasis\"\u003eData collection\u003c/span\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSemi-structured interviews will be conducted in person or via secure video call, in Nepali or English according to participant preference. An interview guide has been developed through consultation with two senior Nepali social work practitioners and will be piloted with three participants prior to main data collection. Topics will include: the decision to post about the loss publicly; the composition of grief content; the experience of receiving audience responses; the relationship between public mourning and private grief; perceptions of platform influence; and the relationship between digital mourning and traditional Nepali mourning practices. All interviews will be audio recorded with participant consent, transcribed by the researcher, and Nepali transcripts translated by a certified bilingual translator with relevant social science research experience. Back-translation will be conducted on a random 30% sub-sample to verify semantic equivalence.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cspan type=\"Underline\" class=\"Underline\" name=\"Emphasis\"\u003eAnalysis\u003c/span\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReflexive thematic analysis will be employed following Braun and Clarke's [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e] six-phase protocol: familiarization; initial coding; theme construction; theme review; theme definition and naming; and analytic narrative production. The researcher will maintain an analytical journal throughout to document interpretive decisions and support reflexivity. Member checking will be conducted with a sub-sample of participants to verify interpretive accuracy.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec18\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e5.3 Phase 2: Systematic Content Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cspan type=\"Underline\" class=\"Underline\" name=\"Emphasis\"\u003eCorpus construction\u003c/span\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA corpus of approximately 800 grief-related social media posts will be assembled from Facebook and TikTok, reflecting their dominant position in the Nepali social media landscape. Posts will be identified through: (a) hashtag searches in Nepali and English; (b) keyword searches for grief disclosure language identified in Phase 1; and (c) manual identification by the researcher. All personally identifying information will be removed prior to analysis in compliance with Nepal's Privacy Act 2075 (2018) and APA internet research ethics guidelines. Data collection will occur over a four-month period following Phase 1 completion.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cspan type=\"Underline\" class=\"Underline\" name=\"Emphasis\"\u003eCoding instrument\u003c/span\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA 24-item provisional coding instrument will be developed through an iterative process combining deductive codes derived from the theoretical framework and inductive codes emerging from Phase 1 findings. The instrument will be organized into five dimensions: staging and production quality; audience address orientation; emotional intensity and calibration; narrative structure; and social capital seeking. Each item will be coded on a five-point scale. Inter-rater reliability will be established through double-coding of 15% of the corpus by a second trained coder, targeting a Cohen's kappa of .75 or above.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec19\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e5.4 Phase 3: Cross-Sectional Pilot Survey\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cspan type=\"Underline\" class=\"Underline\" name=\"Emphasis\"\u003eParticipants\u003c/span\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA cross-sectional survey will be administered to a target sample of 100 bereaved adults in Kathmandu, recruited through the same channels as Phase 1 with Phase 1 participants excluded. Consistent with pilot survey methodology, this sample size is sufficient to detect medium-to-large effect sizes and to provide preliminary psychometric data for the DGPS instrument. A sample size of 80 to 100 is recommended for pilot studies whose primary purpose includes instrument development and preliminary effect estimation (Hertzog, 2008). A post-hoc power analysis will be conducted and reported with the findings.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cspan type=\"Underline\" class=\"Underline\" name=\"Emphasis\"\u003eMeasures\u003c/span\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe following instruments will be administered: (1) Prolonged Grief Disorder scale Revised (PG-13-R) [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e34\u003c/span\u003e] for grief symptomatology; (2) Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e35\u003c/span\u003e] for depression; (3) Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e36\u003c/span\u003e] for anxiety; (4) Digital Grief Performativity Scale (DGPS), a provisional 28-item instrument developed for this study across four subscales (grief staging behavior, audience orientation, social validation seeking, platform dependency). The DGPS will be piloted in this phase and subjected to exploratory factor analysis. Its psychometric properties will be reported in full and the scale should be regarded as provisional, requiring confirmatory validation in future research. Participants will also report platform use frequency, estimated engagement received on grief posts, weeks elapsed since bereavement, and sociodemographic information.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cspan type=\"Underline\" class=\"Underline\" name=\"Emphasis\"\u003eAnalysis\u003c/span\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDescriptive statistics and internal consistency estimates will be computed for all measures. Exploratory factor analysis (principal axis factoring, oblimin rotation) will be conducted for the DGPS, with factor loadings reported in full. Multiple regression analysis will examine associations between DGPS subscales, social validation received, and PG-13-R scores after controlling for relevant covariates. All findings will be reported as pilot estimates with appropriate caveats regarding the sample size and the need for replication.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec20\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e5.5 Integration Strategy\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eFindings from the three phases will be integrated through a narrative integration approach at two points: first, Phase 1 qualitative themes will inform the finalization of Phase 2 coding instrument and Phase 3 DGPS item wording; second, after all data collection, a joint display will synthesize qualitative mechanisms, behavioral patterns, and quantitative associations into an integrated explanatory model of digital grief performativity in Nepal. Convergence, complementarity, and divergence between phases will be explicitly documented and theorized.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"6. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS","content":"\u003cp\u003e Full ethical approval will be sought from the Institutional Review Committee of the Central Department of Social Work, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal (Application Reference: CDSW-TU/2024/031) prior to any data collection. Data collection will not commence until approval is confirmed. All interview participants will provide written informed consent in Nepali or English and will be informed of their right to withdraw at any point without consequence. A distress protocol will be in place throughout the interview phase, with referral pathways established to the Nepal Mental Health Foundation for participants experiencing acute grief distress.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Social media data will be collected and processed in compliance with Nepal's Privacy Act 2075 (2018) and the APA ethical guidelines for internet-mediated research. All personally identifying information will be removed prior to analysis, and data will be stored on an encrypted institutional server. No individual participants will be identifiable in any published output. The study will be registered on the Open Science Framework prior to data collection commencement, and the study protocol, coding instruments, and anonymized datasets will be made publicly available following publication of the study findings.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"7. EXPECTED OUTCOMES AND SIGNIFICANCE","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec23\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e7.1 Theoretical Contributions\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study will make three theoretical contributions. First, it will extend Goffman's [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e] dramaturgical framework and Bourdieu's [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e] field theory into the domain of digital grief, proposing the grief currency market as a novel theoretical construct. Second, it will advance continuing bonds theory [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e] by examining how platform architecture may structurally incentivize the perpetuation of digital bonds with the deceased, complicating the distinction between adaptive and maladaptive continuing bonds. Third, it will generate the first culturally grounded account of digital grief performativity in a South Asian context, challenging the implicit Western-centrism of existing digital death scholarship.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec24\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e7.2 Empirical Contributions\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe study will generate the first empirical data on digital grief performativity among bereaved Nepali social media users. The content analysis will document platform-specific performativity patterns in a Nepali social media corpus. The pilot survey will provide preliminary data on the association between grief performativity and psychological outcomes, establishing the foundation for a fully powered longitudinal follow-up study. The provisional DGPS will provide a starting point for the psychometric development of a dedicated grief performativity measure.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec25\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e7.3 Practical and Policy Contributions\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eFindings will have direct implications for clinical bereavement practice in Nepal and other rapidly digitalizing South Asian societies, where mental health practitioners are increasingly encountering clients whose grief processes are shaped by social media dynamics that existing clinical frameworks do not address. Findings will also inform platform design ethics by providing empirical evidence on how platform architecture affects bereaved users in non-Western contexts \u0026mdash; a perspective almost entirely absent from existing platform governance debates. The study will additionally contribute to the growing literature on AI systems and human wellbeing [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e], situating social media grief algorithms within the broader context of AI-mediated intimate experience.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec26\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e7.4 Anticipated Limitations\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeveral limitations are anticipated. First, the pilot sample sizes across all three phases will limit statistical power and generalizability, and all quantitative findings should be treated as preliminary estimates requiring replication. Second, recruitment through bereavement support organizations may over-represent individuals with reflective relationships to their grief processes. Third, restriction to Kathmandu-based participants limits generalizability to rural Nepal and other South Asian contexts. Fourth, the DGPS will require independent psychometric validation. These limitations will be addressed through the fully powered follow-up study for which the present protocol establishes the foundation.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"8. STUDY TIMELINE","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eProposed study timeline (12 months total)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePhase\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eActivity\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDuration\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTimeline\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePreparation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIRC ethics approval; instrument development and pilot; OSF registration; recruitment materials\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2 months\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMonth 1\u0026ndash;2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePhase 1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInterview recruitment; data collection (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;25); transcription and translation; reflexive thematic analysis\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4 months\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMonth 3\u0026ndash;6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePhase 2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSocial media corpus construction; coding instrument finalisation; content analysis of ~\u0026thinsp;800 posts; reliability testing\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 months\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMonth 6\u0026ndash;8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePhase 3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSurvey instrument finalisation; recruitment; data collection (target N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;100); statistical analysis\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 months\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMonth 7\u0026ndash;9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntegration\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCross-phase integration; joint display; theoretical synthesis; manuscript preparation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 months\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMonth 10\u0026ndash;12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDissemination\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePreprint deposit (Research Square); journal submission; conference presentation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOngoing\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMonth 12+\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"9. DISSEMINATION PLAN","content":"\u003cp\u003eStudy findings will be disseminated through multiple channels. The study protocol will be deposited on Research Square as a preprint prior to data collection, establishing priority on the research question and inviting methodological feedback from the scholarly community. Following data collection and analysis, the results paper will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal in the field of death studies or digital sociology, with Death Studies, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, and New Media and Society identified as primary target journals. The provisional DGPS instrument and anonymized datasets will be deposited in the OSF repository to support open science and facilitate independent replication and validation. Findings will also be shared with the Nepal Mental Health Foundation and presented at relevant national and international conferences.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003eEthics and Consent: Ethical approval application has been submitted to the Institutional Review Committee of the Central Department of Social Work, Tribhuvan University (Application Ref: CDSW-TU/2024/031). Data collection will not commence prior to formal approval. All participants will provide written informed consent.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrial Registration: This protocol will be registered on the Open Science Framework (OSF) prior to data collection. The OSF registration DOI will be added upon confirmation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFunding: This study will be self-funded as part of the author\u0026apos;s academic work at the Central Department of Social Work, Tribhuvan University. No external funding is involved.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCompeting Interests: The author declares no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAuthor Contributions: Sanjiya Shrestha is the sole investigator. She developed the theoretical framework, designed the study protocol, developed all study instruments, drafted this manuscript, and will conduct all phases of data collection, analysis, and interpretation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePositionality: As a Nepali social work researcher at Tribhuvan University, the author has first-hand familiarity with Facebook and TikTok as primary social communication platforms in urban Nepal and has observed grief performativity dynamics within local social and professional networks. The author\u0026apos;s social work training, with its person-in-environment framework, informs the structural rather than individualistic analytical approach. The author will maintain an analytical journal throughout the study to support reflexivity and document interpretive decisions.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgements: The author thanks the faculty of the Central Department of Social Work, Tribhuvan University, for supervisory support, and the Nepal Mental Health Foundation for their commitment to supporting participant recruitment.\u003c/p\u003e\n"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBennett L (1983) Dangerous wives and sacred sisters: Social and symbolic roles of high-caste women in Nepal. Columbia University\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMichaels A (2004) The practice of dying: Observations on a Hindu good death in Kathmandu. In: Michaels A (ed) Dealing with death: Perspectives on death and dying. Lit, pp 15\u0026ndash;40\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNepal Telecommunications Authority (2024) Annual report 2023/2024: MIS report on telecom service. NTA\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eK\u0026uuml;bler-Ross E (1969) On death and dying. Macmillan\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWorden JW (1982) Grief counselling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health practitioner. Springer\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eStroebe M, Schut H (1999) The dual process model of coping with bereavement: Rationale and description. Death Stud 23(3):197\u0026ndash;224\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBourdieu P (1986) The forms of capital. In: Richardson J (ed) Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education. Greenwood, pp 241\u0026ndash;258\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGoffman E (1959) The presentation of self in everyday life. Anchor Books\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eButler J (1990) Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. Routledge\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKlass D, Silverman PR, Nickman SL (eds) (1996) Continuing bonds: New understandings of grief. Taylor and Francis\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBrubaker JR, Hayes GR, Dourish P (2013) Beyond the grave: Facebook as a site for the expansion of death and mourning. Inf Soc 29(3):152\u0026ndash;163\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBassett D (2022) Digital afterlives: From social media platforms to thanabots and beyond. Mortality 27(1):1\u0026ndash;17\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHochschild AR (1983) The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling. University of California Press\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHardt M, Negri A, Empire (2000) Harvard University Press\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWalter T, Hourizi R, Moncur W, Pitsillides S (2012) Does the internet change how we die and mourn? Omega 64(4):275\u0026ndash;302\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDeGroot JM (2012) Maintaining relational continuity with the deceased on Facebook. Omega 65(3):195\u0026ndash;212\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGibbs M, Meese J, Arnold M, Nansen B, Carter M (2015) #Funeral and Instagram: Death, social media, and platform vernacular. Inf Commun Soc 18(3):255\u0026ndash;268\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGiaxoglou K (2020) A narrative approach to social media mourning: Small stories and affective positioning. Routledge\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBucher T (2018) If\u0026hellip; then: Algorithmic power and politics. Oxford University Press\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGillespie T (2014) The relevance of algorithms. In: Gillespie T, Boczkowski P, Foot K (eds) Media technologies. MIT Press, pp 167\u0026ndash;194\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBrady WJ, Wills JA, Jost JT, Tucker JA, Van Bavel JJ (2017) Emotion shapes the diffusion of moralized content in social networks. Proc Natl Acad Sci 114(28):7313\u0026ndash;7318\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRathje S, Van Bavel JJ, Van der Linden S (2021) Out-group animosity drives engagement on social media. Proc Natl Acad Sci 118(26):e2024292118\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGiri A, Hasib A, Islam M, Tazim MF, Rahman MDS, Khadgi M et al (2025) Real-time human fall detection using YOLOv5 on Raspberry Pi: An edge AI solution for smart healthcare and safety monitoring. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Data Analytics and Management; pp. 493\u0026ndash;507\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUddin AZMJ, Begum MR, Akib ASMAS, Islam K, Hasib A, Giri A et al (2025) LungNet: An interpretable machine learning framework for early lung cancer detection using structured clinical data. In: Proceedings of the 2025 IEEE 13th Conference on Systems, Process and Control; pp. 181\u0026ndash;186\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAkib ASMAS, Giri A, Islam M, Sifa FJ, Elahi TA, Aktia AN et al (2024) Design and simulation of a quadruped robot. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Data-Processing and Networking; pp. 373\u0026ndash;385\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGiri A, Akib ASMAS, Uddin AZMJ, Rahman MS, Hasib A, Khadgi M et al (2025) EduBot: A low-cost multilingual AI educational robot for inclusive and scalable learning. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on AI, Blockchain and Internet of Things\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGiri A, Das SR, Joy AZMJU, Akib ASM, Misat MMH, Khadgi M et al (2025) Smart IoT egg incubator system with machine learning for damaged egg detection. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on WorldS4; pp. 236\u0026ndash;245\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eVanderwerker LC, Prigerson HG (2004) Social support and technological connectedness as protective factors in bereavement. J Loss Trauma 9(1):45\u0026ndash;57\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGao M, Ding R, Zhang Y (2020) Passive social media use and depression among bereaved adults. Comput Hum Behav 112:106462\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMcNiel JM, Fleeson W (2006) The causal effects of extraversion on positive affect and neuroticism on negative affect. J Res Pers 40(5):529\u0026ndash;550\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eStroebe M, Schut H, Stroebe W (2010) Grief matters: Differential effects of coping and social support on bereavement outcome. Soc Sci Med 70(8):1219\u0026ndash;1226\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCreswell JW, Plano Clark VL (2018) Designing and conducting mixed methods research, 3rd edn. SAGE\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBraun V, Clarke V (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual Res Psychol 3(2):77\u0026ndash;101\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePrigerson HG, Boelen PA, Xu J, Smith KV, Maciejewski PK (2021) Validation of the new DSM-5-TR criteria for prolonged grief disorder and the PG-13-Revised (PG-13-R) scale. World Psychiatry 20(1):96\u0026ndash;106\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JBW (2001) The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. J Gen Intern Med 16(9):606\u0026ndash;613\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSpitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW, Lowe B (2006) A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder. Arch Intern Med 166(10):1092\u0026ndash;1097\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"study protocol, digital grief, grief performativity, social currency, Nepal, mixed methods, bereavement, social media, algorithmic mediation, South Asia","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9347610/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9347610/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSocial media platforms have fundamentally restructured grief expression in digitally connected societies. Rather than providing neutral venues for mourning, platforms shape bereavement through algorithmic amplification, quantified social validation, and monetization architectures. Despite growing scholarship on digital death, no study has examined how grief is systematically converted into social currency in a South Asian context, nor investigated the psychological consequences of this conversion for bereaved individuals in Nepal, where social media adoption has grown by over 340% since 2018 and where traditional Hindu and Buddhist mourning rituals are increasingly mediated through digital platforms. This study aims to identify and characterize the mechanisms through which digital grief is converted into social currency on social media platforms among bereaved Nepali social media users, and to examine the psychological and sociological consequences of this conversion. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design will be employed across three phases. Phase one will comprise 25 in-depth semi-structured interviews with bereaved Nepali social media users in Kathmandu, analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis. Phase two will apply systematic content analysis to a corpus of approximately 800 grief-related social media posts on Facebook and TikTok, the two dominant platforms in Nepal, using a 24-item provisional coding instrument. Phase three will administer a cross-sectional pilot survey (target N = 100) to bereaved Nepali adults using established instruments including the PG-13-R, PHQ-9, and GAD-7, supplemented by the provisional Digital Grief Performativity Scale (DGPS) developed for this study. We anticipate identifying platform-specific mechanisms through which grief is converted into social currency, documenting the psychological correlates of grief performativity among bereaved Nepali social media users, and generating a theoretically grounded framework for understanding digital bereavement in rapidly digitalizing South Asian societies. Findings will inform clinical bereavement practice, platform design ethics, and digital grief theory.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Digital Grief Performativity and the Conversion of Mourning into Social Currency on Social Media Platforms in Urban Nepal: A Sequential Explanatory Mixed-Methods Study Protocol","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-08 07:50:31","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9347610/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"7137f130-bf5c-4469-9c63-94fa37d098fa","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 8th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-08T07:50:32+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-08 07:50:31","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9347610","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9347610","identity":"rs-9347610","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}