International Journal of Social, Economic, and Business
Vol. 2 No. 4 (2026): June 2026 (In Press)

The Digital Afterlife of a Melody: Exploring Discourse Patterns of Personal and Collective Grief via .Feast’s ‘O Tuan’ on TikTok

Anisa Julia Witana (Universitas Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Jawa Timur)
Roziana Febrianita (Universitas Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Jawa Timur)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Jun 2026

Abstract

This study aims to examine and describe how the narrative of digital grief is constructed by TikTok users through content featuring the song “O, Tuan” by .Feast. Utilizing Rodney H. Jones’s digital discourse analysis approach, this research investigates the construction process through four main dimensions: text, context, action and interaction, as well as ideology and power relations. The results indicate that the construction of the grief narrative is achieved through the synchronization of the song’s audio-visual elements with slide texts and digital artifact visuals that function as a digital sympathy bridge, an emotional bridge that constructs private grief into a public narrative through collective netizen support. The findings also reveal that this narrative construction results in the practice of digital afterlife, where the song and TikTok features are used to maintain the existence of the deceased within the digital space. Ideologically, this construction reflects the formation of affective publics that position users as "Memory Guardians" to challenge the physical limitations of death. Audience interactions in the comment section demonstrate that the constructed grief narrative is not merely an expression of loss but an active communicative act that builds new norms of mourning in the digital era.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

ijseb

Publisher

Subject

Decision Sciences, Operations Research & Management Economics, Econometrics & Finance Social Sciences

Description

International Journal of Social, Economic, and Business published since 2024 is an open access International refereed research publishing journal with a focused aim on promoting and publishing original high quality research dealing with theoretical and scientific aspects in all disciplines of ...