Up until now, Goldman says most of the letters chosen by the staff have been either been handwritten or emails sent through WhiteHouse.gov.
Advertisement
The new bot follows Obama’s tradition of reading 10 letters a day sent to him by citizens-something the president has done since taking office in 2009. In recent years, the White House has created official Twitter and Facebook profiles for the president, and Obama has participated in online town halls and Reddit AMAs. However, being able to chat with the President through bots on Messenger is a different way of reaching out to the people.
Obama holds up his BlackBerry device on the South Lawn of the White House, Nov. 21, 2014.
I just sent a message to President Barack Obama following a White House announcement that it’s teamed up with Facebook to let people virtually communicate with the president. Once you’ve finalized your note in Messenger, the bot prompts you for your contact information, including your email address and phone number, in the event that your message is one of the handful that gets a followup.
“I hope you’ll take a minute to read and share Sherman’s letter”, Obama wrote on Facebook. Once your message is sent, the bot again asks if that’s your whole message, which of course, you can respond with a “Yes” or “No.” a “Yes” answer gives you a chance to check for typos before the message is finally sent.
In a post on the White House’s blog, White House Chief Digital Officer Jason Goldman says the Facebook bot represents “a first of its kind for any government the world over”. Finally, you are asked to provide your contact information, including mailing address in the United States, phone number, and email-this is aimed at cutting down on spam.
Advertisement
Got something to add to this story?
