Twitter finally seems to be getting the hang of what it wants to be — it now has a vision for the growth of its stagnated platform. And it involves developing customer support tools and baking them right into the direct messaging (DM) service. The company has recently been trying to cement its position in the customer support arena, providing brands with new solutions.
But today, it seems Twitter is finally putting these features to use itself. It has now begun testing a chatbot to help its users report their complaints and suggestions on the @support Twitter account, reports BuzzFeed News. This bot will be able to handle some basic user queries, particularly handling conversations related to reporting accounts and nothing much.
A Twitter spokesperson has confirmed the trail and shared the following statement:
We’re testing a new @Support DM tool to make it easier for people to get help with certain support issues, directly on Twitter. This is a very early test and will be limited in scope for the time being.
The bot is currently experimental and is being rolled out only to a handful of users. You can definitely go ahead and check the Twitter support account, but the test is super limited at the moment. The company plans to attain feedback (collect bot data) and then tweak the automated service accordingly — with more options and better conversational skills.
As can be seen in the conversation between the Support bot and BuzzFeed’s Alex Kantrowitz underneath, the chatbot is presently not capable of handling a lot of cross-questions. Using a menu-like interface, which looks better than Facebook Messenger’s, Twitter bot presents you with five categories, namely Accounts, Abuse, Impersonalization, General, and #TwitterTips.
You can pick any one of the following to start a conversation with the bot. If you’re having trouble accessing your account (or you’ve been banned) then the bot will be able to check and regain control of the same. The bot will also provide you with options to report a user who is either spewing hate/abuse or impersonating you and reeking havoc on the micro-blogging platform. The latter 2 options will help you learn about Twitter or provide feedback.
As Twitter recently announced that it is looking to collect its APIs together to simply the development process for developers who’re still loyal to the platform. It should include an API for building bots, similar to Facebook’s Messenger platform, as well. This could be a boon for the company as Twitter is considered a prominent platform for customer service. You can come here and tweet at any of the brands with your issues/query and it would be solved – due to public disclosure. Similarly, offering the DM bot service will come in handy for businesses.
