IMG_2851As most of you already know, Amanda Miner from the class of 2018, died two months ago, on March 16th to be exact. As many of you may not know, she was a very close friend of mine. She was killed in a car accident while celebrating her 21st birthday. I was in Pine Ridge, South Dakota working on an ASB work project when I got the news. I will never forget the moment I got that text message; this is my first experience with loss.

The use of social media websites has changed the way we interact in many ways. It changes how we communicate, how we remember people and places. Me and many of Amanda’s loved ones have turned to social media to grieve her loss and to remember her. It wouldn’t be right exactly to call this performance art per say, but I’ve used snapchat a lot to share memories of her, and to share how she still comes up in my everyday life. It was interesting to see how people have responded to my grief on snapchat, as the two don’t seem compatible or even appropriate. Sometimes the lack of privacy on social media comes back to bite us, but in this case it was actually helpful in getting support for grief, and for supporting others. So here are some of the snaps I’ve shared.