Twitter has introduced a new feature for automated accounts (commonly known as ‘bots’) to self-identify as “good bots”. The new identification comes in the form of the ‘robot emoji’. The company says the feature will help Twitter users to differentiate between real profiles and automated accounts. The label will give people additional information about the bot and help them decide which accounts to “follow, engage with, and trust.” The development of the label for bots was first spotted back in September 2021.
What are bot accounts?
Bot accounts on Twitter are fairly common, but not many can identify them, let alone understand their functionalities. The account’s primary role is to tweet or retweet content on a large scale. These accounts can be very helpful for broadcasting weather emergencies in real-time, sharing informative content en masse, and even generating automatic replies via direct messaging. However, these accounts can be misused by trolls to propagate fake news or spread hate.
Twitter says the label for bots comes as a result of research that found that people wanted more context around the accounts they interact with. The new label will identify “good bots” that share relevant information and intend to improve a user’s Twitter experience.
In a press note, Twitter says, “Good bots can help people find useful, entertaining and relevant information every day – from sharing COVID-19 updates to notifying people of traffic updates, to even helping people find internships. There’s a whole community of developers that are working hard to build bots that are genuinely useful and interesting.”
Some of the ‘good bot’ accounts that the company recognises include Bengaluru Covid Vaccine Bot (@CovidvaxBLR), InternFinder (@internfinder), German Learning Bot (@TheGermanBot), Blood Required Bot (@bloodreqbot), and Mumbai Traffic (@mumbaitraffic). However, these accounts are yet to get the robot emoji label to help users identify these accounts. Twitter has also experimented with labels before to help users identify state-run accounts during elections.
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