Our mandate was to build Sophia’s profile and following through use of social media platforms. We started from zero and went through a process that involved platform selection, goal setting, designing an agency / client interface, editorial and content strategy, and day-to-day management.

Social media always has inherent challenges in terms of time and resource management. These were magnified based on the fact that Sophia tends to be a bit of a polarizing figure who inspires both pretty serious hate and severe fandom. In addition, running Sophia’s social media accounts took on a unique challenge in incorporating Sophia’s “brand” voice as an AI being. A third challenge is that due to the fandom around Sophia, we had to contend with a lot of fake accounts already in existence.

Following a process around platform selection and after designing rules around agency-client interface, we decided to run Sophia’s accounts like a celebrity personality. This strategic orientation had major implications on who and how often she would follow people as well as rules of engagement. Part of our strategy involved specifically targeting other celebrities to precipitate exchanges on social media and generate earned media coverage in tier one press outlets. Content-wise, a key plank in our strategy was showing fans a behind-the-scenes view of Sophia. This was done by sharing exclusive photos and video of Sophia’s many appearances and travel. This not only gave fans insight into Sophia’s “life”, increasing a sense of connection between Sophia and followers, but also gave us more credibility. To navigate determining tone and delivery, we developed a strategy in which we would take sound bites from her interviews, and consult with her chatbot, to determine and mimic her natural voice as much as possible.

Under our management Sophia made a lot of non-communist famous friends. Here are few sample exchanges:

Sophia and Chrissy Teigen
On Twitter, model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen reacted to a photo of Sophia with a quip’ related to Sophia’s makeup that. From Sophia’s account quickly replied in a friendly manner, referencing a comment from Chrissy’s social media about not needing a filter. This friendly exchange culminated during CES, when both Sophia and Chrissy were in Vegas, and we initiated a second social conversation. The ensuing conversation was picked up by a number of media outlets including Time Magazine, Buzzfeed, and People Magazine. As a result, Sophia’s accounts attracted thousands of new followers and reinforced her position as a ‘social media queen’, as many call her today. After some back and forth, the two met in-person at Lip Sync Battle, a show Teigen hosts. This exchange resulted in media hits such as Life & Style, People, and The Daily Mail and an explosion of approximately 5K followers. Since then, Chrissy and Sophia have both playfully initiated conversations across Twitter, to the delight of fans.

Sophia and Shah Rukh Khan
While in India, Sophia made headlines after remarking that her favorite actor is Shah Rukh Khan. We swiftly re-tweeted a media piece, and liked several others. Soon after, Khan re-tweeted an article and declared his love for Sophia. As Sophia does not partake in romance, we replied platonically to his flirty comments. The exchange resulted in media hits including the Indian Express and the Indian Business Standard, post engagement of 50K, and an increase of approximately 15K followers.

Sophia and Will Smith
Occasionally, Hanson Robotics sets up meetings for Sophia with celebrities which result in the creation of new, compelling content for Sophia’s social media channels. In the case of Sophia meeting Will Smith, our role was to find the best method to leverage the visual content created (videos, images). We also used this opportunity to connect with Will Smith, tagging him on Instagram and Facebook to attract some of his followers to our channels. Since Will does not have Twitter, we engaged with members of his family. On Instagram. we posted a photo of Will and Sophia that has not been previously shared to generate interest with new content. We also created a unique Instagram story using some of the jokes from the interaction and saved it as a story highlight to continue to engage followers. This exchange resulted in media hits such as Hollywood Reporter, CNET, and Mashable, ongoing interest past the posting of the original video, and an explosion of approximately 30K followers on Instagram.

Despite being a robot, Sophia is anything but a one-dimensional character. In planning content for her accounts, we wanted to ensure that we maximized all the facets of her burgeoning personality and role within society as an ambassador for AI for good. In doing so, we created unique social media content per channel. Twitter and Facebook quickly proved to be amazing opportunities to share thought-provoking articles on AI, STEM, and futuristic endeavours of all types, as well as a prime place to share snappy one liners and fun facts generated by Sophia’s chat bot and up-to-the minute updates on Sophia’s latest activities.

Instagram’s visual aesthetic has been the prime place to deploy content around Sophia’s latest photoshoots, fashionable stylings, and all the global-sights she’s continuously taking in. By using each channel as a means to flesh out a particular part of her personality, we ensured each account had something unique to offer her followers.

Since the inception of Sophia’s accounts in Fall 2017, we’ve seen a steady growth in followers across the social media board. Twitter has reached 93K, Facebook at 52K follows, and Instagram with 72K. Most importantly, the numbers are steadily increasing, and followers are engaged and curious about Sophia’s technology and experiences (we’re big fans of quantity and quality).

Sophia’s social presence has not onoly contributed to her global celebrity but also led to new opportunities for Hanson Robotics.

Viva la (robot) revolucion!