Earlier today, Google announced that it will start answering Android-related queries on Twitter. Google elaborated its tech support initiative on Reddit, and all one needs to do is, tweet with the hashtag #AndroidHelp. The tech support will address concerns related to general troubleshooting, accessibility, security, authentication, and identity verification.
Google’s Android tech support seems promising
Google seems to have made the decision to provide public technical assistance in order to eliminate spam accounts. Letting people DM would mean, there would be a lot more spam than there would be if it were restricted to public messaging. In addition, it will serve as a public resource for all kinds of Android-related queries.
People have long depended on dubious sources of information in order to fix their Android-related issues. This has often led to unfortunate incidents such as malware planting, identity theft, etc. Google seems to have taken this approach to provide immediate answers to those who have problems with the most popular mobile operating system on the planet. While providing technical support to Android users was, in fact, a longstanding demand, it is not clear to many people why Twitter was chosen as the platform.
Here are some of the probable reasons for choosing Twitter as the platform to provide Android tech support:
- Twitter provides an immediacy that other platforms lack
- As Twitter is public, users can easily post queries without having to create additional accounts
- Twitter queries are publicly visible, and so are the answers. This will act as a resource for Android-related queries
- Google probably wants to play catch-up with other companies which already use Twitter as the de-facto customer service platform
Google’s decision to use Twitter for providing tech support is well-thought
Certainly, this comes as great news to most people who use Android. However, people who are not familiar with Twitter may find it difficult to approach Android’s brand new tech support. A large number of people still prefer Facebook over Twitter, and many others simply use other social tools such as Instagram. Of course, it is not possible for Google to provide tech support on every social platform. It has some valid reasons to choose Twitter as the sole tech support platform. Most certainly, fewer people will have problems with Android after this initiative.
