LivesOn App Keeps Tweeting After Death

The answer to the question, “What happens to a person’s social media accounts after they die,” just got a whole lot creepier.

A startup app named LivesOn allows Twitter users to keep tweeting after they’ve passed away. The tagline bluntly iterates the purpose of the app: “When your heart stops beating, you’ll keep tweeting.”

LivesOn uses specialized algorithms to analyze a user’s Twitter feed, and then puts that data to use by selecting posts the user would have written themselves and tweeting them.

Dave Bedwood, creative director of Lean Mean Fighting Machine, the London-based ad agency that is developing the LivesOn app, told The Guardian:

“It offends some, and delights others. Imagine if people started to see it as a legitimate but small way to live on. Cryogenics costs a fortune; this is free and I’d bet it will work better than a frozen head.” Bedwood also said the app “divides people on a gut level, before you even get to the philosophical and ethical arguments.”

LivesOn isn’t the first app dedicated to maintaining the deceased’s social media accounts. Dead Social allows users to set up messages to be sent out posthumously through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

“It allows you to enhance your memories, extend relationships and create something of value for those who are still alive,” said creator James Norris. Norris added that his team is taking the emotional aspect of DeadSocial seriously by consulting with a doctor that specializes in end-of-life care.

The issue of social media and death is one that has received serious consideration in recent months. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, New Hampshire Rep. Peter Sullivan proposed legislation that would give the executor of the estate control over the deceased’s social media accounts. Sullivan said he was inspired to create the legislations after a Canadian girl committed suicide after being bullied on Facebook. Similar legislation has been proposed in a number of other states, including Rhode Island, Idaho, and California.

Last year, an app named If I Die offered users the chance to leave a video will to be passed on to friends after death. After the user dies, three “trustees” must confirm the death to the service, which will then spread the “will” to the deceased’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Do you think apps like LivesOn and If I Die are creepy or comforting?