Facebook Messenger Chatbot for Surveys and Intervention Testing

For many Internet users, Facebook is the portal to the Internet. Understanding how people consume and engage with information on Facebook is central to understanding how information and misinformation spreads on the Internet and shapes perspectives. Chatbots offer a promising new research tool for engaging with users within the context of their regular social media engagement. This project will develop a new Facebook Messenger chatbot that can be used for a variety of research uses: canvassing on a broad range of topics, measuring information consumption, or studying the effect of messaging interventions on political participation and behavior. The researchers will also use adaptive, data-driven algorithms that learn from exchanges with users and determine optimally persuasive messaging around political events.