Should I Post When a Loved One Passes Away?: Digital Mourning and Emotional Norms on WeChat Moments

Social media has redefined traditional mourning spaces, enabling new forms of digital mourning that challenge established emotional norms. While existing studies often focus on digital mourning within public social media platforms, less attention has been given to the semi-public platforms. This study takes China’s WeChat Moments as a case study to explore how individuals narrate and reflect on their digital mourning practices, specifically how they interpret platform affordances, navigate emotional tensions, and develop media strategies in response. It conceptualizes the imagination and appropriation of social media and the emotional restraint practiced to avoid conflicts as “mediated emotional repertoire.” This concept reflects individuals’ management of private emotions in the digital sphere, highlighting the complex interplay between social media platforms, cultural norms, and interpersonal interactions.