Our users ask us tens of thousands of questions each day. We would like to answer them all — and we are looking for brilliant people from all over the world who would like to help us do this. If you are interested in joining us, please read this Telegram Support Force Manifesto — and don't miss the tiny FAQ below.
Telegram Support Initiative
Harnessing the power of procrastination
Telegram is a free messaging system that is used by tens of millions of people daily. Each of our apps has an ‘Ask a question’ button. Our users press it thousands of times each day: some have questions, others just want to chat, still others are bored trolls. We think that they all deserve an answer of some kind.
Robots and algorithms are good at handing out answers at scale, but they sometimes cause frustration, fundamentally lack human touch and are bad conversation partners. FAQs are a remedy for the select few that enjoy finding answers in FAQs. To be happy, humanity requires human answers.
Manually answering tens of thousands of questions daily requires considerable resources. Manually answering them in style — even when assisted by algorithms and templates — requires limitless resources. But, the resources in question being humans and time, the modern world happens to have a limitless source of just such energy.
This world is full of bright-minded, elegant, downright wonderful people who, like you and me, sometimes just can't get started with whatever they were supposed to be doing. And procrastinate instead. This brings countless people in any profession to hours and hours of unnecessary house-cleaning, dog-walking and web-surfing every day. Millions of hours go to waste — procrastination is as ubiquitous in the XXI century as are people who do their work behind computer screens.
It is our goal to harness the power of procrastination. For user support, we rely on an army of volunteers from all over the world. They donate a fraction of their time to answer a few questions from Telegram users — every now and then, or all the time. We call this the Telegram Support Force and you are welcome to join.
Answering questions may be devilishly tricky at times, so we couldn't accept everyone even if we wanted to. The Telegram Support Force needs patient, inquisitive people, who are no strangers to elegance, humor and style. Although Telegram volunteers help people from their own countries, proficiency in English is also a requirement, since the data you will be getting from us, as well as pretty much all communication inside the team, will be in English.
We believe in support as an art form. Support should be fun — for people on both ends of the line. So we are looking for perfect, human and precise answers to the world's questions. Something to make them smile and to make you proud.
If this is something you might be interested in doing, don't hesitate to contact our @TelegramAuditions account. Please write us a few phrases in English describing how your favourite feature works (don’t copy it, let it be your hand-made text). Include a picture of a marmot if you want a better chance at convincing us that you actually read all of the above and below and, therefore, are inquisitive enough.
Markus Ra
@Telegram
Manifesto FAQ
Q: Do I need to know anything special to be eligible?
No, not really. But you do need to know how to learn things. And be inquisitive enough to want to learn them.
Q: What else is required?
We‘re looking for perfectionists. It’d also be nice if you loved your language and had at least a moderate affection for the people of Earth. It'd be cool if you like to read and write. And then, patience and understanding are very useful at times.
Q: Will the people I answer know who I am or get my number?
No, they will not. Unless you choose to tell them for some mysterious reason.
Q: What should I say when I contact you?
We’d love to know more about you (who you are, what you think, what you like — not a CV, no!), the languages you speak and the devices you use (mobile, desktop OS).
Q: How long does it take for you to reply?
We try not to take too long. But we sometimes do, so we apologize in advance. Sorry. Don‘t lose heart and remember that thing about patience above. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
