"I Was Told to Come Back and Share This": Social Media-Based Near-Death Experience Disclosures as Expressions of Spiritual Beliefs

2026-02-12

AI Summary

This study investigates how narratives of near-death experiences (NDEs) on social media function as expressions of spiritual belief and facilitate collective meaning-making in digital spaces. Through qualitative content analysis, 200 TikTok videos tagged with #nde and their associated comments were systematically coded to identify recurring narrative themes and patterns of user interaction. Findings reveal that the majority of NDE accounts incorporate religious or spiritual elements, which significantly enhance user engagement and stimulate profound discussions concerning the meaning of life and personal faith. This research represents the first systematic examination of NDE sharing on short-form video platforms as a form of collective spiritual expression, highlighting the role of social media as an emerging site for contemporary spiritual practice.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Social Networks
• Natural Language Processing: Fact-Checking / Misinformation Detection (NLP Focus)
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Social Cognition And Interaction

Application Category

• Social Networks and Social Media: Media and governance, opinion dynamics, filter bubbles, polarization
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: The sharing economy
• Responsible Web: Web for democratic and emancipatory futures

Abstract

People who experienced near-death events often turn to personal expression as a way of processing trauma and articulating beliefs. While scholars have examined how individuals share near-death experiences (NDEs), limited research has explored how these narratives are communicated collaboratively on today's social media platforms. We analyzed 200 randomly sampled TikTok videos tagged with #nde and related hashtags. Content analysis revealed that individuals often use NDE narratives to articulate personal meaning, with spiritual and religious themes appearing in the majority of posts and serving as a means of exploring and making sense of personal spiritual perspectives. Consistent with this, analyses of comment sections reveal that videos containing spiritual themes tend to attract more engagement and foster deeper conversations around faith and meaning. Our findings offer insights into how online platforms facilitate community-level engagement with spirituality, and suggest implications for design of spaces that support shared expression and connection in specialized communities.

Problem

• near-death experience
• social media
• spiritual beliefs
• online disclosure
• community engagement

Innovation

• near-death experience
• social media
• spiritual expression
• TikTok
• online community