Are You Dead? China’s viral app reveals a complex reality of solo living and changing social ties

By Pan Wang, Associate Professor in Chinese and Asian Studies, UNSW Sydney

A Chinese personal safety app called Are You Dead? – recently rebranded as Demumu – has gone viral in recent weeks, attracting widespread media attention.

Behind its sudden popularity lie deeper social transformations, including demographic shifts and changing personal and family relationships. At the same time, demand is growing for trust-based, non-medical, easy-to-use care networks tailored to the rapid rise of one-person households.

Demumu…

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