Twitter’s safety mode has recently been expanded. Twitter’s conversation settings now include a “leave conversation” option. Then there’s the safety mode, which automatically blocks accounts you don’t want. Today, Twitter is making it happen in bringing greater openness to the tweeting process by introducing new bot labels, which developers can now apply to automated accounts automatically.
On Twitter, bot accounts will have a new robot icon next to their profile name, as well as a label indicating that they are automated. In the tweet stream, the same will be presented, with a “Automated” tag beneath the profile name on tweets. The voluntary labels are being used by Twitter to assist in identifying “Good Bots,” as opposed to bot accounts that are exploited for malicious purposes.
Twitter mentioned:
“#GoodBots help people stay apprised of useful, entertaining, and relevant information from fun emoji mashups to breaking news. The label will give people on Twitter additional information about the bot and its purpose to help them decide which accounts to follow, engage with, and trust.”
Twitter bots, as previously indicated, have been considered as a major cause of misinformation and/or polarizing messaging, with bots being used to manipulate tweet trends and make movements appear more popular than they actually are.
Twitter introduced new bot labels to identify bot accounts in-stream on 17 February 2022.
Implication for Marketers:
It’s not designed to be an all-encompassing, bot vs human-controlled identifier at this stage. But it’s a step in that direction – and with bots long being identified as a key problem on the platform, it could, eventually, be a key element in combating misuse. The new bot labels are the next step and should mean that all legitimate bot accounts on the app will now be labeled as such. It makes it possible for marketers to understand who and what they’re engaging with and potentially having a significant impact on content distribution and amplification. Twitter is now taking more active action to solve its bot problem and assist users, especially marketers in avoiding possible manipulation.
Reference: https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/1494041387880304645
