Komunika: Jurnal Dakwah dan Komunikasi
Vol. 19 No. 2 (2025)

Griefing emotions on Facebook wall: a visual multimodal dialogue from a semiotic technology perspective

Nasrullah, Rulli (Unknown)
Kontu, Study Rizal L. (Unknown)
Murodi (Unknown)
Jumroni (Unknown)
Musyarrofah, Umi (Unknown)
Adi, Wasono (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
01 Oct 2025

Abstract

The expression of grief has shifted from traditional face-to-face rituals to digital spaces. Social media provides features such as emojis, stickers, and GIFs, enabling users to express mourning visually and symbolically. This phenomenon illustrates how cultural and religious practices are transformed through technological mediation. The study aims to analyze how multimodal dialogue represents grief on Facebook and how meaning is constructed in digital mourning practices. The research applies a social semiotic approach with a semiotic technology method. Data were collected from grief-related posts and comments on the Facebook account @endah.sucipto. The analysis focused on two models of interaction: system–user and user–user. Each textual and visual element was examined through multimodal content analysis and interpreted using semiotic theory. The findings show that expressions of grief appear in three dominant forms: condolences, Qur’anic verses, and prayers for the deceased. Users also rely on emojis, reaction icons, stickers, and images to strengthen emotional expression. These multimodal practices integrate religious traditions and digital symbols, creating hybrid forms of mourning in online communities. Visual features such as GIFs and stickers are substitutes for nonverbal cues and add affective value to brief textual comments. This study contributes to communication and cultural studies by showing how social media functions as both a technological medium and a cultural arena. The results highlight the role of digital semiotics in rearticulating cultural symbols of grief. Future research may expand this inquiry by comparing digital mourning practices across platforms and cultural contexts.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

komunika

Publisher

Subject

Religion Humanities Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Social Sciences

Description

Journal Komunika is a journal published by the Dakwah Faculty of IAIN Purwokerto, which has a concentration related to the field of Dakwah, Islamic Communication, communication theory, mass communication, dakwah management, dakwah messages, dakwah media, dakwah methods, dakwah organizations, Islamic ...