Twitter rolls out labels for bot accounts
- ByStartupStory | September 11, 2021
Twitter has announced a new feature allowing accounts to self-identify as bots, by adding a label to their profile. This new launch is twitter’s first live test of new labels for bot accounts, which it says will help users ‘identify good bots from spammy ones’.
On Thursday, the company announced it would begin testing out labels for some automated accounts, better known as Twitter bots, to let users usher out which ones are helpful, and which should be removed.
The new bot labels will include a bot icon beneath the profile name listing, with an additional indicator of the human-run account that manages the bot.
The company gave examples of “good bots” including accounts that share vaccination updates, information about the seismic activity, or material from public museums. When these accounts let us know they’re automated, we get a better understanding of their purpose when we’re interacting with them.”
The new feature will not be mandatory. Twitter said they were launching it to a small number of developer accounts and was planning to roll it out to all developers by the end of the year.
Bots are often associated with misinformation on social media platforms – and have caused a major headache for the company. The company aims to continue to remove inauthentic accounts it deems to break the company’s platform rules. The company believes the labels will increase the legitimacy of such accounts and build trust and transparency with their audiences.
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