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Resistbot
FounderEric Ries and Jason Putorti
Type501(c)(4)
Legal statusActive
PurposeCivic engagement
ServicesDelivering letters or calls to elected officials in the U.S. Congress or state Governors, checking voter registrations, finding polling places, voter registration, and other civic services.
Executive Director
Jason Putorti
Websiteresist.bot

Resistbot is a service that people in the United States can use to compose and send letters to elected officials from the messaging apps on their mobile phones, with the goal being that the task can be completed in "under two minutes".[1] It helps to identify a user's congressional representative, then provides electronic and manual services to deliver messages and letters to representatives and local newspapers via Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Telegram, and SMS. As the platform has developed, Resistbot has added functionality such as confirming voter registrations, locating town halls, finding volunteer opportunities, and polling places.[1] Resistbot has been funded by small-dollar donations, over 24,000 as of September 12, 2017[2], and is built and maintained by volunteers[3].

History

Resistbot was established by Eric Ries and Jason Putorti in January 2017.[4] Though the program was founded to oppose the actions of the Trump administration,[5] it functions as an un-biased channel, allowing users to compose their own messages. Unlike many other advocacy efforts, it provides no scripts to users.[6] Donations from users pay for postage for letters and voter registration forms, faxes and calls to officials, and texts between the users and the service.

How Resistbot works

Users text the word "resist" to 50409, and follow a series of prompts.[7] If a user wants to write one of their officials, Resistbot will ask for their address to find out who represents them in Congress, ask for the user to type out the letter they want to send, and delivers the message via electronic delivery, fax, or postal mail, depending on what method is available. Users may also use Facebook Messenger, Twitter, or Telegram to use the service. Resistbot is free to use,[8] and does not require an app download. When Resistbot began, letters were faxed[9] to officials' offices. However, as the program received more heavy usage, and officials started to unplug their fax machines, it switched to electronic delivery as a primary channel, with faxes, postal letters, and hand deliveries as secondary methods.[10] Between June 21 and 22 alone, Resistbot volunteers delivered 12,781 letters to the U.S. Senate, largely about family separation.[11] Those letters represented only a small sample of deliveries overall.[12]

Usage and reception

Resistbot has been featured on many news and magazine sites including Recode, Teen Vogue, Fast Company, Engadget, GOOD, The Guardian, The Miami Herald, and Huffington Post. In an interview with Recode, Putorti acknowledged that though the product's main purpose was to voice those in opposition to the Trump Presidency, the system delivers all messages without regard to political views.[13] Resistbot's twitter feed features many responses by members of Congress to users who have sent messages through the software[14]. It was called, "The Most Genius Thing Of 2017" by GOOD magazine.[15]

In November 2017, Resistbot was used as a channel by Medium Magazine to push Net Neutrality letters to Congress. The article published seven letter templates for readers to send to their representatives in favor of net neutrality.[16] In January 2018, The Peace Report published an article pushing its users to send letters to government officials through Resistbot in order to oppose the construction of two new military bases in Okinawa.[17] The article contained a letter template for readers to copy and paste to Congress representatives. In February 2018, WUSA TV fact checked and verified that texting "NRA" to Resistbot would tell users how their officials had benefited, or been hurt by, NRA contributions.[18] In September 2018, InStyle Magazine listed it as a way to "make your voice heard," regarding the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b "Resistbot". resist.bot.
  2. ^ "The Robot of the Resistance – Resistbot". Resistbot. 2017-09-12. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
  3. ^ "Citizens angry over GOP healthcare bills are overloading the bot designed to help them reach Congress". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
  4. ^ "Meet the startup expert who wrote Resistbot in his spare time – J." J. October 16, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  5. ^ Webster, Emma Sarran. "This Bot Turns Your Texts Into Faxes to Elected Officials". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
  6. ^ "Resistbot Turns Your Angry Trump Texts Into Faxes To Congress". Fast Company. 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
  7. ^ "Pitt Grad Develops Fast Way To Communicate Views To Congress". 2017-05-03. Retrieved 2018-10-24. {{cite news}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 52 (help)
  8. ^ Papenfuss, Mary (March 27, 2017). "Technology Gets Political: Upstart Resistbot Faxes Lawmakers For You". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  9. ^ "Resistbot Turns Your Angry Trump Texts Into Faxes To Congress". Fast Company. March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  10. ^ Putorti, Jason (2017-11-10). "Welcome to Resistbot v3". Resistbot. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
  11. ^ "These Washingtonians Spend Their Lunch Hours Delivering Letters To Other People's Senators". DCist. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
  12. ^ "5 Things to Know about Resistbot's Hand-Deliveries – Resistbot". Resistbot. 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
  13. ^ "Resistbot helps voters oppose Trump by faxing their text messages to Congressional reps". Recode. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
  14. ^ "Congress Writes Back". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
  15. ^ "This New Anti-Trump Tech Is The Most Genius Thing Of 2017". GOOD. 2017-07-23. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
  16. ^ Trayser, Luke (2017-11-22). "7 Net Neutrality Letters You Can Send To Resistbot Today". Medium. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
  17. ^ "Say NO to New U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa". The Peace Report. 2018-01-10. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
  18. ^ "VERIFY: Text reveals NRA political contributions to elected officials?". WUSA. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
  19. ^ "Here's How You Can Make Your Voice Heard Amid the Kavanaugh Investigation". InStyle.com. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
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