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| Twitter allows developers to tag bot accounts |
Twitter now allows developers to add tags to their bot accounts (also known as bots). You will see labels in your account profile and under the account name in your feed.
Earlier in September, the company launched a test for naming bots to make it easier to know when an account is running on its own. The experiment appears to have worked.
Last fall's experience allowed the company to identify itself as a useful bot in its service.
While the word bot generally has negative connotations, Twitter also refers to useful bots that automatically post useful information, such as: coronavirus updates, earthquake alerts, bills proposed by Congress, etc.
As in the test, Twitter accounts that dubbed themselves the bots displayed this information in their profiles across the platform.
Below the account name and username, a small bot icon will appear next to the words "Automated by" followed by the name of the account operator. Meanwhile, the entire platform biography describes the purpose of the bot.
When the bot tweets, the automated tweet also appears in the user's timeline. The company says this information helps users decide which accounts to follow, interact with, and trust.
In September, account ratings were first provided by nearly 500 Twitter developer accounts who tested the feature and provided feedback, including the following bots:
- SF QuakeBot: Real-time tweets about earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- COVID-19 Vaccine Progress: Tweets about the percentage of Americans who have been vaccinated (all ages have received at least one dose).
- The Last 100 Verbs: A tweet describing the last 100 bills introduced by the United States government.
- Alt text warnings: Provides direct message warnings when posting images without #alt text.
- Emoji Mashup Bot: Try to stream new emojis by merging many random emojis.
These accounts represent a range of uses for the bot, from important updates to interesting information to interesting content.
Twitter introduces hashtags to identify useful bots
In addition to seful bots, many people automate their accounts on the platform in other ways such as: b. Use the IFTTT integration to tweet links.
But Twitter is less interested in these types of automated tweets. She noted that users should investigate any third-party apps they use on their accounts and ensure they follow Twitter's rules.
While bot hashtags are useful, they don't necessarily solve the larger problem of Twitter bots as a whole.
Bad bots range from annoying bots, like spreading spam or promoting cryptocurrency schemes, to more disruptive bots, like trying to influence the upcoming elections.
Tags are available for bot accounts created by developers using the platform API. Account holders must register to apply tags to their accounts.
A company spokesperson said, "All accounts on the platform are subject to Twitter's rules. Since these names are currently subscription-based, we do not currently review accounts that are trying to be approved. If an account is in violation of the rules, we will rely on our reporting to deal with it."