Douyin as a Memorial Gathering for CoCo: Algorithmic Experiences of Online Collective Mourning

Celebrity deaths have become unexpected yet highly impactful media events in modern society. Nowadays, short video-sharing platforms play an important role in public communication and reactions surrounding such events. Serving as a vehicle for tribute content, these platforms have reshaped the practices and methods of mourning. They curate content that people access and engage with through opaque algorithms, which possess the potential to impact our ability to effectively manage and navigate through periods of grief. To understand online collective mourning practices on algorithm-mediated platforms, we conducted an interview-based study with 21 Douyin users who consistently followed the death of an Asian pop diva, CoCo Lee, via the platform. Our study revealed how algorithms on Douyin reshape narratives of celebrity deaths and how video consumers tame algorithms to cope with grief. Based on these findings, we provided design implications for creating meaningful user-algorithm interactions when encountering such events on algorithm-mediated online platforms.