Cyberthanatology in Southeast Asia: a Phenomenological Study of Digital Memory, Digital Assets and Digital Legacy Before Death

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-573-7_10How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Cyberthanatology; Digital Memory; Digital Assets; Digital Legacy; Phenomenology

Abstract

Southeast Asia, particularly in emerging economies like Malaysia and Indonesia, digital assets and inheritance remain underexplored. Despite ties to religion and custom, the region sees rapid smartphone dependency and cloud use, which enable digital memory-making that leads to the accumulation of digital assets. These assets include digital data, memories and platforms which hold privacy, sentimental and monetary values. Without proper planning or legal transfer of digital rights, these digital assets cannot be inherited. As death is inevitable, raising awareness of digital legacy particularly among young adults is crucial, as they are among the active users who rely on communication technology. Therefore, anchored in the concept of ‘cyberthanatology’, which explores the intersection of death and communication technology, this study investigates how young adults view, perceive, and experience their digital memories, assets, and legacy in preparation for death. Using a phenomenological study, in-depth interviews were conducted with total of 10 young adults from Malaysia and Indonesia, selected through snowball sampling. The interviews were transcribed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Findings reveal that communication tools act as ‘memobilia’, technologies that store and digitalised memories which contribute to the formation of digital assets with the values of privacy, sentimental, and monetary. Despite awareness of online risks and privacy issues, planning and managment for digital legacy is limited. The study highlights the need for structured and clearer digital assets and legacy management policies. It contributes to academic discourse and aligns with national digital initiatives such as Malaysia’s Digital Economy Blueprint and Indonesia’s Digital Transformation Roadmap, advocating for a digitally informed society prepared not only for life, but also for legacy beyond death.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Anuar Bin Ali
AU  - Fitria Ayuningtyas
AU  - Mohd Salleh
AU  - Normah Mustaffa
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/30
TI  - Cyberthanatology in Southeast Asia: a Phenomenological Study of Digital Memory, Digital Assets and Digital Legacy Before Death
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Communication and New Media Studies (COMNEWS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 90
EP  - 98
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-573-7_10
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-573-7_10
ID  - Ali2026
ER  -