See all Editor's Picks →
See all Popular →
The Bank of America Twitter bot really cares about you
@BofA_Help responded. And responded again. And again. And again. To everyone tweeting at it. And the responses were all oblivious.
Bank of America’s automated Twitter bot might care too much. The bank’s Help account tweeted repeatedly at members of the Occupy movement discussing its “evil” practices with generic phrases like “Anything I can do to help?” and “We’d be happy to review your account with you to discuss any concerns.”
It started when a user named @darthmarkh posted a photo of the chalk artwork he’d been drawing outside Bank of America headquarters in NYC. The art depicted the Monopoly banker and read in part, “Theft. Illegal Foreclosures. Fraud.” Cops had chased him away for “obstructing.” @darthmarkh tweeted the photo and included @bankofamerica in the tweet.
Then, a user named Steve Timmis responded sarcastically regarding the obstruction and an account called @BofA_Help responded. And responded again. And again. And again. To everyone tweeting at it. And the responses were all oblivious.
A programmer named Eksith Rodrigo posted screencaps of the exchanges on his WordPress blog.
As @jenniedelicious replies, “Nobody. Had. Any. Account. Related. Inquiries. Nobody wants anything to do with you,” and then: “Why am I arguing with a bot?”
H/T Eksith Rodrigo | Photo via Rainforest Action Network/Flickr
