Amid Twitter’s vast number of ongoing tests may be a new one that labels bot accounts, making it clear to other users that the tweets are automated, not manually published by a private. Not all bots are bad, of course; they will be wont to, for instance, automatically share data from NASA missions or provide users with real-time info on their local weather situation.
A Twitter bot is, put, an automatic post from a bit of software written by someone who wants to share some information. In many cases, these bot accounts aren’t problematic; others, however, could also be unwilling to share misinformation and incendiary content automatically.
What's a bot and what's not? We're making it easier to identify #GoodBots and their automated Tweets with new labels.
Starting today, we’re testing these labels to give you more context about who you're interacting with on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/gnN5jVU3pp
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) September 9, 2021
Knowing that you’re watching a tweet from a bot will assist you in understanding the character of the communication and how to interact with it — and that’s where Twitter’s new account labels are available. The social media company has shared screenshots of what this new identifier seems like, including its small robot-shaped icon that creates the message unmistakable.
Twitter notes in its FAQ about the test that these labels will increase transparency while making it clear which are good bots and which are spambots. Only a limited number of users are participating in the label test at this point. However, it’s on an invite-only basis.
Someone with an automatic account could also be invited to spot it as their own with the label. Once that happens, users who visit their bot’s account will see a label indicating that the posts are automated and which human is behind the account.
