For many of us, social media has become a major part of our everyday lives. But now it can literally take over your online existence after you have passed away. Several recently released apps make it possible to send social media messages from the grave.

The Facebook application if i die enables you to create a goodbye video or message that will publish after your death. Users select which Facebook friends will break the news, which prompts the pre-established message to post.

LIVESON proudly advertises: “When your heart stops beating, you’ll keep tweeting.”  The new service analyses your twitter handle and the content shared, and will tweet stories and links on your behalf after you’ve expired.

With Facebook and Twitter both boasting more than a billion accounts each, there will undoubtedly be users eager to take advantage of the innovative new offerings.  In fact, the first registered user of if i die to pass away will even be featured in a video on leading tech site Mashable.

These new apps are understandably quite controversial, but it will certainly be interesting when they come into use. On the downside, this new technology means your friends’ annoying status updates may continue to haunt you even after they have departed this life.