Scottish PR Agency Talks about the new Facebook M

A Scottish PR Agency’s Take on What’s Hot and What’s Bot

SOCIAL Media advice is increasingly top of the list for PR clients.

The whats, whens and whys of posting to Facebook and the accompanying platforms can be daunting at the best of times.

So the news that Facebook are to introduce a bot that identifies what you’re trying to post and gives you advice is great, right?

Not necessarily.

M, Facebook’s new assistant, is part of the platform’s ongoing attempt to increase time spent on their app and site – something their buy and sell groups and allowing charity donations on-site have already had some success in doing.

Last year Facebook launched a smart chat bot to help answer basic questions and give users a hand with what they were up to.

A smart move that will handily help the less tech-savvy social media users make the most of the world’s most popular platform.

There are key distinctions between these introductions that will ultimately spell disaster for ‘M’ and his/her career as an i-PA.

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People don’t like being interrupted.

If you build it, they will come.

However, if you build it and stop people getting on the first bus to ‘it’ to tell them how great ‘it’ is they might change their minds.

Facebook provides a number of interesting and useful services, many of which are wildly popular.

We live in a lightning-quick online world where three seconds is an unacceptable delay and M risks putting people off their stride at a crucial time.

History repeating

Remember Clippit?
Yes? Well, we’re sorry to hear that but the Microsoft Paperclip does offer a good reminder of how badly uninvited electronic helpers can be thought of.

Now, we don’t suppose that M will be an anthropomorphic jaunty and bouncy character but the aesthetics of Clippit merely exacerbated the main problem – that our user experiences were being cluttered by something we essentially just wanted to banish and never have it return.

Overkill

Having already mentioned the smart chat bot feature it might be excessive to mention it again.

But, that is just the point. Struggling with your post? Ask.

There is already a functioning tool to ensure that Facebook users aren’t overwhelmed by their experience, why add another.

This drives home the first point that interruptions aren’t welcome particularly when your customer base is already using your app and have a means of help already.

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