Chatbot

While being used on social media, a chatbot is an automated software application, which is made to seem like a human conversation and interact with users through either text or voice-based communication. These conversations usually occur directly on social media platforms like Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct Messages, or even Twitter and WhatsApp, but can also take place on standalone messaging applications. In essence, a chatbot's primary goal is to help with user engagement and keep the lines of communication open between a business and its audience.

Chatbots can provide fast, mostly accurate answers to common customer service inquiries, thus freeing up part of a business's digital team to handle more complex problems. One significant advantage of a chatbot is that it's always 'on,' which means it can serve audiences in various time zones and cater to the immediacy of user expectations common in the fast-paced digital world. When programmed well, a chatbot can also mimic the days of yore when a wisecracking service representative used to field customer calls for a business.