Bridging the Digital Divide with SMS Bots
summary
A live-built SMS bot demonstrates reach and tradeoffs: it uses Twilio, Nexmo or an Android SMS Sync gateway tied to a Flask/Heroku backend and Google Voice, obeys TCPA opt‑in and stop rules, and relies on phone numbers for identity. Surprising metrics appear — 1,000 of 10,000 march participants subscribe, SMS reads ~99% vs email ~22%, and ~75% text daily — and a deployed example returns the nearest trans‑friendly restroom and the conference backchannel at 23559, which works.
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chapters (11)
- 0:00Start
- 9:03The Block Bot
- 11:04What is SMS
- 13:33Who uses SMS
- 14:58Benefits of SMS
- 16:04Correlation of Smart Phone Use and GDP Per Capita
- 17:00Ethical Concerns
- 19:24SMS Gateway Options
- 24:08Example #1
- 30:33Example #2
- 32:50Example #3 Refuge Restroom
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