New Twitter App Lets You Keep Tweeting After Death

Twitter enthusiasts need not worry about what will become of their social network accounts after they have died. A new service promises to continue sending out tweets on behalf of the deceased long after they have crossed over to the other side.

The application, which is called 'LivesOn,' studies your current online behavior, analyzes the tweets you post, and altogether learns your social network personality. All information (including your likes and hobbies) is collected and automated tweets are then generated through a personalized LivesOn feed.

The service even has a quirky, albeit catchy, tagline: "When your heart stops beating, you'll keep tweeting!"

'Digital Legacy Tools' On the Rise

Dave Bedwood, founder of LivesOn, created the application with researchers at Queen Mary University in London as an "artificial intelligence experiment."

Interestingly, similar applications are expected to be released in the coming years, allowing messages to be sent out posthumously. These services have even been given a name: Digital Legacy Tools. (Source: ndtv.com)

'Element of the Living' Still A Factor

Of course, there is still an element of the living that needs to be in place for LivesOn to function properly.

An individual would have to consistently log in to their LivesOn account and provide feedback when they are still alive in order to update the topics they would like to be tweeted on their behalf from beyond the grave.

Also, those who sign up for LivesOn are asked to nominate an executor who will eventually have complete control over their account in the case of death. The executor decides how long to keep your LivesOn Twitter feed alive and can "stop transmission" at their discretion.

Bedwood explained the role of the executor further in a recent interview saying:

"At the point when someone who has used this (service) for a long time dies, LivesOn may be in a position to keep on tweeting as a version of themselves. But this would only happen with consent at the start from the user and also the LivesOn executors -- a family member or close friend who decides whether the feed can stay live or not." (Source: yahoo.com)

According to the LivesOn website, the application is expected to be released to the public sometime in March 2013.