Abstract
Digital practices of emotionalization as an integral part of contemporary communication on the Internet are an important instrument of social positioning. This also applies to mourning fans, who try to console themselves in the public sphere of social networks after the death of a prominent person and thus demonstrate both their personal and their collective fan identity. Often, in the context of such deaths, a digitally enabled community is created, in which the parasocial mourners feel taken seriously and understood and in which they can position themselves as fans both internally and externally. The legitimacy of these positions is, however, also repeatedly questioned on a meta-level, both regarding the right to participate in the mourning community and the adequate articulation of mourning.