User:Freemancw/Twitter Bot

A Twitter bot is a Twitter account that is controlled by bot software via the Twitter API. The bot software may autonomously perform actions such as tweeting, retweeting, liking, following, unfollowing, or direct messaging other accounts. The automation of Twitter accounts is governed by a set of automation rules that outline proper and improper uses of automation. Proper usage includes broadcasting helpful information, automatically generating interesting or creative content, and automatically replying to users via direct message. Improper usage includes circumventing API rate limits, violating user privacy, or spamming. Twitter bots may be variously perceived as fun, useful, annoying, or deceptive.

Identification

It is sometimes desirable to identify when a Twitter account is controlled by a bot. In a 2012 paper, Chu et al. propose the following criteria that indicate that an account may be a bot (they were designing an automated system):

• "Periodic and regular timing" of tweets;
• Whether the tweet content contains known spam; and
• The ratio of tweets from mobile versus desktop, as compared to an average human Twitter user.

Research shows that humans can view Twitterbots as a credible source of information.

Twitter Bot Networks

A set of Twitter bots that is controlled by a single piece of software forms a Twitter botnet. Twitter botnets differ from traditional botnets in that they may only involve a single computer acting as the botmaster.