Not all applications are equal in terms of usage. At first glance, the name is enough to make your blood run cold. Named Are You Dead? (literally “are you dead?“), it looks more like a bad joke than a mobile application intended for the general public. And yet, this concept is enjoying dazzling success. The application is currently at the top of paid applications on the Chinese App Storeand even begins to rise in the Western rankings. Behind its morbidity, above all, it reveals a truth that is hard to accept.
The principle is aberrantly simple. For the equivalent of a little more than one euro, the user provides an emergency contact and agrees to press a green button decorated with a little ghost every day. As long as this daily gesture is carried out, everything is fine. On the other hand, if the user forgets to report for two consecutive days, the application automatically sends a message to the designated contact on the third day. No geolocation, no fancy sensors, just a minimalistic reminder that someone is out there, somewhere, and might need help.
A reminder of life
It is precisely this simplicity that hits the mark. Are You Dead? does not promise a technological revolution, and easily adapts to people who are not familiar with the complexity of smartphones. It responds to the very contemporary anxiety of disappearing in silence. In China, the context makes the application particularly relevant. The aging of the population, legacy of the one-child policy as well as massive urbanization increase the number of single-person households. The idea of not being noticed for days, or even weeks, is no longer abstract.
The choice of name has obviously sparked debate online, with some stating that it is far too anxiety-inducing. But this franchise also contributes to its virality. Developed by a small team of three creators, the application known as Demum internationally, presents itself as a “safety companion for people living alone”. A positioning that resonates well beyond Chinese borders. In the United States too, single-person households have continued to increase for decades, and this is also the case in France.
Under its macabre appearance, Are You Dead? therefore captures something essential: our need for an invisible safety net, in a world where independence increasingly means isolation.
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