Tweeting from Beyond the Grave
A new twitter app by the name of “Lives On”, soon to be introduced on Twitter, will generate tweets even after a user has died. Due to be launched this month, the app will tweet on the deceased’s behalf using “Twitter bots powered by algorithms that analyse your online behaviour and learn how you speak, so it can keep on scouring the internet, favouriting tweets and posting the sort of links you like, creating a personal digital afterlife,” according to an article on The Guardian. As its tagline explains: "When your heart stops beating, you'll keep tweeting"!
This app is very similar to the “If I die” and “DeadSocial” apps on Facebook that post a variety of bulletins and updates long after your death. However anyone signing up for LivesOn is asked to nominate an executor who will have control of the account, But DeadSocial puts the power in the deceased's hands (since it is currently a violation of Facebook's terms of service for surviving relatives to go on using your passwords).
Despite the LivesOn application raising some serious philosophical, moral and ethical questions, the developers take the application of their computer-generated ghost very seriously. "It allows you to enhance your memories, extend relationships and create something of value for those who are still alive," explains creator James Norris, whose team have been consulting with a doctor specialising in end-of-life care.
It sounds pretty creepy to me, but I think it would be pretty funny to have someone who knows I’ve passed away get a notification from me, apprehensively open it, only to see it says “You’re next!!”
What about you? Do you see yourself happily socializing even after passing away, or would you want your social life to rest in peace!
