Apple has recently altered its approach to customer support on social media platforms. Starting from Oct. 1, the @AppleSupport account on X (formerly known as Twitter) will cease providing human technical assistance through direct messages, marking a shift towards automated support.
Apple Support Account Shifts From Human Support to Automation
According to the latest report by MacRumors, customers who reach out to @AppleSupport on X via direct messages now receive automated responses, directing them to Apple's Get Support page on the official website. Additionally, customers are guided to the Apple Support app, available for iPhone and iPad users.
While human responses to tagged posts have also been discontinued, automated replies featuring links to various pages on Apple's website are still provided.
The account's description, previously stating that it was "available every day to answer your questions," was removed this week.
However, the @AppleSupport account on X will continue to share valuable information, including tips, tricks, and videos from the Apple Support YouTube channel.
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Apple Workers Affected by Apple Support Account Changes
Reports suggest that Apple has made changes to its social media support strategy by discontinuing certain roles in paid social media support advising across various platforms, including X, YouTube, and the Apple Support Community website.
Affected employees have been offered the option to transition to phone-based support roles within the company. As per Apple Insider, over 150 workers have been affected by the recent changes.
It's important to note that during this transition, human support will continue temporarily on the Apple Support Community. Simultaneously, responses to comments on videos uploaded to the Apple Support channel on YouTube appear to have ceased.
Gizchina reported back in August that the Cupertino firm had abandoned YouTube for customer support. With that, the company hinted that AI will be used to reply to users who reached out to the support account.
Did Apple Halt Human Support Because of Elon Musk?
Apple has maintained human support on Twitter since 2016. While the reasons behind changes to the Apple Support account are not yet announced, Elon Musk's ownership of X could be one of them.
If that is true, the iPhone maker could be steering away to serve users on X. The shift to automated support could suggest that it might explore some features for its customer assistance on different social media platforms.
For some people, this isn't a big deal since other users said that they didn't even know that it existed in the first place.
In other news, "Elvis" star Tom Hanks recently said that he was not promoting a dental plan on Instagram, per Tech Times. The American actor clarified that it only showed an AI-generated counterpart of himself and not actually him.
Hanks added that he had nothing to do with the false advertisement on the platform.
