Milestone Celebrations in the Age of Social Media traces the emergence and evolution of milestone celebrations in the digital era, from social media spectacles like promposals and gender-reveals to closure commemorations like divorce parties and living wakes.

In the decade spanning 2010–2020, social media showcased growing celebrations of lifetime milestones across multiple platforms. Utilizing theoretical and methodological approaches based in cultural studies, Milestone Celebrations in the Age of Social Media analyzes social media phenomena including gender-reveal parties; promposals; publicized marriage proposals; divorce celebrations; and the rites of the Death Positive Movement. Carly Gieseler illustrates how the public sharing of major life events on social media platforms reshapes the way we communicate about topics including courtship, birth, marriage, divorce, and death. While each trend represents a unique occasion, these celebrations share themes inherent to our human experience in the digital age. Culminating in the wake of the pandemic and its impact on each communal celebration, this book illustrates one of our most vital human drives—connection.

Chapter 1. Event Planning: Social Media Celebrations and Ritualized Trends

Chapter 2. Gender-Reveal Parties: Returning to a New Reveal

Chapter 3. The New Old-Fashioned: Promposals for the Social Media Generation

Chapter 4. The Guaranteed Yes: Pre-staged Productions of Online Marriage Proposals

Chapter 5. The End of an Error: The Divorce Party as Liberated Limen

Chapter 6. A Wake for the Living in the Death Café: Death Positivity in the Digital Era

Chapter 7. Party Like It’s 2020: Celebrations and Social Media in the Pandemic