Users of social networks have to have an increasing degree of knowledge to avoid being exposed to scams and disinformation campaigns, so it is necessary to know how to identify bots on Twitter . A bot is an account designed to publish content automatically or semi-automatically for different purposes, accounts created for trolling or spreading false information are the most recurrent.
This does not imply that all bots are harmful and a threat to coexistence in social networks, so it is convenient for the user to know what a bot is really for and how to detect them to discern if they are really useful or are an element to avoid within their activity on networks such as Twitter.
HOW TO SPOT A GOOD BOT ON TWITTER
Users who want to find out how to detect a good bot on Twitter are in luck, since the social network itself will be in charge of tagging them so that they are easier to find. As we see in this image, the bots that Twitter considers of public utility will have a label indicating that they are automatic accounts and who is the developer responsible for them.
The bots good are those who provide public service information , whether an update on vaccination rates against COVID-19 or seismic activity of a particular place. This new Twitter function, which has been implemented since May 2021, makes it easier for the user to be aware of who is behind that information that is reaching them automatically, which is a step forward in terms of transparency.
BOTOMETER
Since this new Twitter feature is still in the process of being rolled out and there is a possibility that many developers do not want to make public that they are behind a bot , we also have the possibility to use the Botometer tool . This Twitter API reviews the activity of the account about which we have doubts about whether it is a bot or not and will offer us an estimate of its behavior with a score between 1 and 5.
The higher the figure that an account obtains, the more likely it is that it is a bot , so it will be up to us to decide whether to follow it or whether it is more convenient to ignore it. Being an external API, we will have to give permission to access our Twitter account , although in this case, having been developed by an educational institution such as Indiana University, it is much more reliable than many other APIs with greater popularity.
HOW TO SEARCH FOR BOTS ON TWITTER
Botometer is a great tool that makes it easy for us to find bots on Twitter , but it is not the only one. In reality, bots are characterized by a high frequency of publication, anonymity and their exclusive dedication to amplifying a certain type of message. From these three factors, it will be easier to deduce whether or not it is an automatic account, unless Twitter has tagged it within this new measure that will continue to be implemented until the end of the year.
In addition to the Indiana University API, there are projects like Bot Sentinel that are dedicated to tracking how many users of the main hashtags that appear on the list of trending topics are likely to be a bot . If we click on ‘Analyze Account’ we can enter the user and it will provide us with an analysis of their activity and if it is automatic or not. The main advantage of Bot Sentinel is that it is not necessary to grant permissions to access our Twitter account.