SALON

Friday, Mar 1, 2013 7:14 PM UTC

The tweet hereafter

A new program wants to mimic your social media presence to help you tweet from beyond the grave

By

Topics: Twitter, social media culture, Social Media, tech, , ,

The tweet hereafter

Ours is a generation obsessed with sharing every thought, feeling and brunch picture on social media. And now we never have to stop. Not even when we’re dead.

The London-based ad team at Lean Mean Fighting Machine has introduced an “artificial intelligence experiment” called LivesOn. A program that will let Twitter users, well, live on through their account.

In order to distill information about your tastes, interests and “voice,” the program analyzes your tweets while you’re still alive. But once LivesOn learns enough about your social media style, it will begin posting updates independently to your new feed. Your followers can “favorite” the tweets that they like, providing even more informational feedback to the Twitter bot, helping it sound even more like “you.”

Then, after you have tweeted your last and taken off for that big Google Hangout in the sky, your account’s “executor” will decide whether or not to keep it active. Really, the tag line says it all: “When your heart stops beating, you’ll keep tweeting.”

But Dave Bedwood, creative partner behind the project, doesn’t want to creep you out with the prospect of postmortem status updates. He just sees LivesOn as an inevitable extension of our media-steeped culture. “The thought just came that, over time, with Moore’s Law, et cetera, tech becoming more pervasive — how much of ourselves will we give to zeros and ones? Will any of it really constitute us?” Bedwood told Mashable in an email. “But it’s hard to see this trend reversing. And if we are posting all this stuff, what will happen to it? It feels evolutionary in a way, inevitable that man will use technology to somehow live on.”

The ad agency is working on the experiment with London’s Queen Mary University, and the website indicates that the program will begin beta-testing in March.

 

Katie Mcdonough

Katie McDonough is an assistant editor for Salon, focusing on lifestyle. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com. More Katie Mcdonough.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 2 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations