In an era where politically correct terms have taken over conversations, debates, government and legislative sectors, and even our written documents are scrutinized to the point of further heated exchanges, one term is currently causing frenzy online.
The term Illegal Immigrants is a hot subject at the moment. With many countries trying to determine the best way to address the matter, two journalists found a way to simplify things by creating a Twitter bot; however, it has only caused more complications.
Fusion.net writers Patrick Hogan and Jorge Rivas decided to create a Twitter bot that, in their terms, corrects people who tweet the politically incorrect term ""illegal immigrants."
The two writers explain that the terms "illegal immigrant" or "illegal alien" are terms that are offensive to people residing in the United States without proper authorization. In a statement, Patrick and Jorge said, "So, in a modest effort to help America shed some of its historical baggage, we built a Twitter bot that replies to some of the people who tweet the words 'illegal immigrant,' letting them know that in 2015, the preferred terms are 'undocumented immigrant' or 'unauthorized immigrant.' To avoid spamming people, the bot only runs once every ten minutes, and it never replies to the same user twice."
Since the term was taken down from the Associated Press stylebook in 2013, Patrick and Jorge deemed that it is their civic duty to correct people who still use the terms. Most people responded positively to the bot's correction but not everyone on Twitter is appreciative of its efforts and many have aired their irritation and indignation towards the page.
@DroptheIBot I don't recall asking for you opinion and I see that you have written the same line over 50 times DON'T PULL THAT CRAP WITH ME
— Dolly Miller Brennan (@Dolly_World) July 27, 2015
@DroptheIBot UR missing the point, it is illegal immigration. They are "Illegal" immigrants Don't try that politically correct crap on me. — Dolly Miller Brennan (@Dolly_World) July 27, 2015
I will always say illegal immigrant to illegal immigrants. You Yanks have become lunatics. @DroptheIBot
— Torsten Frahm (@TorstenFrahm) August 1, 2015
@DroptheIBot @angryamericanus ...but if you sneak into the country without permission you are committing a crime, therefore illegal alien. — ellery100 (@elleryschimmel) August 3, 2015
@DroptheIBot @angryamericanus They are not illegal but their actions are. Illegal immigrant's are not immigrant but they are here illegally.
— Jerald Rowlett (@JeraldRowlett) August 3, 2015
@DroptheIBot @angryamericanus If they're living here without legal permission to do so, they're breaking the law... therefore ILLEGAL — BL_Abba (@BL_Abba) August 3, 2015
The Drop the I Bot Twitter page has now over 700 tweets and is designed not to correct the same user twice. And though the Twitter bot will not respond to the comments users make even if it is taunted, many people still post a reply back to the bot to make their views and opinions known.
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