Tributes are continuing to flow as the world reacts to the loss of the extraordinary David Bowie.
Music legend ... David Bowie performs during a concert celebrating his 50th birthday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Picture: AP
AS news of David Bowie’s death shook the world, millions of fans have poured onto the web to celebrate the life that was.
On Facebook, 35 million users were chattering about Bowie in the first 12 hours of the announcement, with Australians most engaged in the tragedy after the British.
Google has seen a more than 5000 per cent surge in searches relating to Bowie as people claw for his music, while Twitter exploded with 4.3 million tweets about him within seven hours. And YouTube has today had well over 25,000 new uploads dedicated to the pop genius.
MORE: The music Bowie fans can’t get enough of
Star Man ... David Bowie’s death was a major shock for fans who did not know he was sick with cancer. Picture: AP/Marty LederhandlerSource:AP
Tributes are emerging on social media from all angles, from musicians, politicians and actors, to even an astronaut and the Vatican, imparting their memories of the beloved ‘Star Man’ who lost a secret battle to cancer at age 69.
Bowie’s passing is devastating for his army of global fans in a way that eerily echoes the despair felt for other rare legends with cross-generational appeal such as John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Freddie Mercury, Frank Sinatra and Kurt Cobain.
The difference this time is the way collective grief is manifested not just with makeshift shrines and street parties, but with technology.
Psychotherapist Zoe Krupka, from Melbourne’s Cairnmillar Institute, said she believed social media was a great place to express and share sorrow with others.
And she said grief on social media was not too dissimilar to offline mourning.
Growing shrine ... A woman leaves flowers beneath a mural of David Bowie in Brixton, London. Picture: Carl Court/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images
Ms Krupka explained there was evidence of the famous five stages of grief, including feelings of shock, denial by believing the news to be a hoax and sadness by sharing his music.
Dr Keith Miller, a mental health expert at Flinders University’s School of Social and Policy Studies, said social media was a healthy way to connect with others when grappling with the loss of a megastar.
But only as long as people responded respectfully, he said in a warning to those who did not feel the same heartache.
Ms Krupka said fans often felt shame mourning celebrities, and asked them to give themselves some slack because it was entirely normal to grieve an eminent artist like Bowie.
“Artists like David Bowie represent ways of being in the world we didn’t know were possible,” she said, likening his qualities to The Beatles’ John Lennon.
“People are looking back at their teenage years, they’re linking him to creating their identity, as someone they model themselves after.
“He gave an enormous amount of people permission to be who they were, and that’s really precious.”
Striking similarities ... The weight of the death of David Bowie has been compared to that of John Lennon in 1980. Picture: AP/Steve SandsSource:AP
Dr Miller said that with music greats, there was a feeling of having known them intimately due to the profound meaning behind their songs.
“People have identified with them and they’ve had such an impact that sometimes we don’t want to let them go,” he said.
He said not everybody grieved in the same way, and it could take time before an event triggered feelings of loss.
He urged people mourning Bowie not to put pressure on themselves to recover in a rapid or particular way, warning those who were already experiencing stress they risked sparking mental health issues.
Commemorations ... Crowds gathered outside the Ritzy cinema in south London to sing and pay homage to David Bowie. Picture: AFP/Niklas Halle'nSource:AFP
He also encouraged fans to allow themselves to mourn in a way that was celebratory of what Bowie gave to the world.
To move on, Ms Krupka said it was important to pinpoint exactly what it was you were grieving — whether it was that Bowie would no longer be making music, or that you felt a time in your life was slipping away.
She stressed that anyone feeling deep distress should also look for face-to-face contact.
Twitter: @sopphie
sophie.aubrey@news.com.au
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