Most would agree that how a person grieves is deeply personal. Yet when Jayne Rivera, a 20-year-old social-media influencer in Florida, posted sexy and smiley pictures of herself at her father’s funeral — posing in a little black dress in front of his open casket — the response online was largely revulsion. Instagram disabled her account “with no reason given.” Over 1,000 of her followers immediately stopped subscribing. Local news media picked up the controversy. Rivera couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. In one sense, I can’t say I blame her. Why should we find her actions shocking or even objectionable when the cheapening of life’s more intimate moments on social media is now par for the course?
“Everyone handles the loss of a loved one in their own ways,” Rivera told NBC News after the controversy surrounding her funeral photo shoot. “Some are more traditional while others might come across as taboo. For me, I treated the celebration as if my father was right next to me, posing for the camera as he had done on many occasions prior.”
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