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Accepted (AM)Open Access (License Unspecified), Open
Journal article
'There's a Starman waiting in the sky': Mourning David #Bowie on Twitter
Convergence (London, England), v 25(2), pp 307-323
01 Apr 2019
Abstract
This article analyses Twitter responses to the death of musician David Bowie as an inroad to a discussion about characteristics and functions of Twitter in the mediated relationships between celebrities, fans and the popular culture industry. The study focuses on questions regarding the nature of the Twitter community, types of emotions as well as expressions of fan creativity and the composition of online mourners. To this end, it provides a broad analysis of all tweets with #Bowie in the first 48 h after Bowie passed away (N = 252,318) and in-depth, quantitative and qualitative analysis of tweets with 100+ retweets (N = 130). Results show high levels of retweeting and a limited number of tweets retweeted exceptionally often, suggesting a Twitter 'elite' leading the online mourning. This elite consists predominantly of media figures, celebrities, artists and music industry representatives rather than 'regular' individuals and fans, resulting in limited expressions of parasocial relationships. Besides being conduits of expressions of grief and information exchange, tweets focus on positive affirmation in tribute to Bowie's work. Results confirm that Twitter provides a virtual gathering of mourners who are (presumably) looking for recognition of loss and for expressions of support.
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Details
- Title
- 'There's a Starman waiting in the sky': Mourning David #Bowie on Twitter
- Creators
- Hilde Van den Bulck - University of AntwerpAnders Olof Larsson - Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology
- Publication Details
- Convergence (London, England), v 25(2), pp 307-323
- Publisher
- Sage
- Number of pages
- 17
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Communication
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000464497500013
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85047992666
- Other Identifier
- 991021865925504721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Communication