A new smartphone app in Lebanon lets citizens automatically tweet, with one convenient tap of the finger, “I am still alive! #Lebanon #Latestbombing.”
The BBC reports that the creator of the app intended to highlight the country’s deteriorating security situation with an ironic solution. The jarringly upbeat sales pitch on the app’s homepage reads, “Every time there is an explosion, we have to spend a lot of time contacting our loved ones…Not anymore!”
Sadly, the pitch resonated with 4,000 users who have downloaded the app since it launched on January 21 and used it in two subsequent bombings. People in other war ravaged regions of the world have contacted the app’s creator to request their own, localized version, according to the BBC.
No word yet on how many users have downloaded the “VIP” version, which enables politicians to tweet out prefabricated messages of condemnation.
[BBC]
