{"id":3860,"date":"2017-03-02T22:32:14","date_gmt":"2017-03-02T22:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/as-messengers-bots-lose-steam-facebook-pushes-menus-over-chat.html"},"modified":"2017-03-02T22:32:14","modified_gmt":"2017-03-02T22:32:14","slug":"as-messengers-bots-lose-steam-facebook-pushes-menus-over-chat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/as-messengers-bots-lose-steam-facebook-pushes-menus-over-chat.html","title":{"rendered":"As Messenger\u2019s bots lose steam, Facebook pushes menus over chat"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

Facebook\u2019s Messenger bots may not be having the impact the social network desired. Just yesterday, online retailer Everlane, one of the launch partners for the bot platform, announced it was ditching Messenger for customer notifications<\/a> and returning to email. Following this, Facebook today announced<\/a> an upgraded Messenger Platform, which introduces a new way for users to interact with bots: via simple persistent menus, including those without the option to chat with the bot at all.<\/p>\n

One of the problems with Facebook\u2019s bots is that it\u2019s often unclear how to get started. The directory of bots in Messenger wasn\u2019t initially available and now only reveals itself when you start a search in the app. And it hasn\u2019t always been obvious how to get a bot\u00a0talking, once added, or how to navigate back and forth through a bot\u2019s\u00a0many sections.<\/p>\n

The Messenger platform update today <\/a>tackles this latter problem, by offering an alternative to the more limited \u2013 and sometimes\u00a0confusing \u2013 systems that were previously available.<\/p>\n

Instead of forcing users to talk with a bot, developers can choose to create a persistent menu <\/a>that allows for multiple, nested items as a better way of displaying all the bots\u2019 capabilities in a simple interface.<\/p>\n

\"screen-shot-2017-03-02-at-3-03-58-pm\"<\/p>\n

The new persistent menus are limited to three items at the top-level, and its sub-menus are now limited to five. Before, if users wanted to engage with a menu like this, they often had to engage in conversations with the bot to discover the various sections and\u00a0items.<\/p>\n

Now, Facebook suggests<\/a> to developers that they \u201cconsider stripping such exchanges down and cutting to the chase by putting the most important features in your menu.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, a retailer\u2019s bot might offer menu options that let you \u201cgo shopping,\u201d \u201cask questions,\u201d or \u201csend messages.\u201d If\u00a0you clicked into the shopping section, the menu could update with a list of items to drill down into, like tops, bottoms, shoes and accessories.<\/p>\n

Along with\u00a0webviews \u2013 like, the product page for the shirt you want to buy, for example \u2013 the new experience feels more like navigating a mobile website within Messenger, instead of using a bot.<\/p>\n

\"screen-shot-2017-03-02-at-3-06-18-pm\"<\/p>\n

Also new is that developers can now choose to hide the composer screen, and forgo allowing customers to have a conversational experience in the bot entirely.<\/p>\n

I guess we can\u2019t call them chatbots anymore?<\/p>\n

The question this leads to, of course, is whether or not any of this is necessary. If Facebook\u2019s bots become more like mobile sites, what\u2019s the point of using them in Messenger at all?<\/p>\n

\"screen-shot-2017-03-02-at-3-10-10-pm\"<\/p>\n

It feels like Facebook is going the wrong direction here. Messenger seems poised to be the company\u2019s\u00a0breakout platform for voice-based computing and voice-powered virtual assistants, but the company hasn\u2019t put much focus on those emerging technologies.<\/p>\n

While it\u00a0acquired voice and natural language startup Wit.ai<\/a> in 2015, it\u00a0hasn\u2019t done much publicly with voice computing, beyond testing having\u00a0Facebook turn voice clips\u00a0into text<\/a>\u00a0during chat sessions.<\/p>\n

Today, you can\u2019t connect the dots between Messenger and its many bots just by speaking. That is, it seems like you should<\/em> be able to say to Messenger, \u201cwhat\u2019s the latest from CNN?\u201d or \u201cwill it rain today?,\u201d then have the appropriate bot respond. But this is not the case.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Facebook\u00a0also toyed around with \u201cM,\u201d a virtual assistant inside Messenger<\/a>, but this\u00a0has yet to launch to more than a handful of testers.<\/p>\n

None of today\u2019s other Messenger platform updates focus on these technologies, either.<\/p>\n

Instead, the larger update to version 1.4 includes things like expanded sharing capabilities that could help bots gain more exposure; tools to better match businesses\u2019 customer lists to Messenger\u2019s user base; a handful of new\u00a0APIs; improved analytics; and other tweaks and features catering to specific developers\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n

Facebook, meanwhile, is quickly becoming one of the largest tech companies without a clear path to the voice computing-powered future, where others like Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung are today intensely competing. But with over a billion<\/a>\u00a0active Messenger users, Facebook has the luxury of taking the time to figure things out.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Featured Image: K\u0101rlis Dambr\u0101ns<\/a>\/Flickr<\/a> UNDER A CC BY 2.0<\/a> LICENSE<\/small><\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/rmNUCC41PqM\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Facebook\u2019s Messenger bots may not be having the impact the social network desired. Just yesterday, online retailer Everlane, one of the launch partners for the bot platform, announced it was <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,7,14,15,6,12,11],"class_list":["post-3860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-update","tag-computer-news","tag-downloads","tag-microsoft-download-news","tag-networking-updates","tag-technology-update","tag-wordpress-plugin-download","tag-wordpress-theme-download"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t