In 2017, Pew Research Center conducted a study of 1.2 million Tweets that contained links to shared content. They discovered that 66% of those tweets were made by suspected bots. They also discovered that "A relatively small number of highly active bots are responsible for a significant share of links to prominent news and media sites."
We also know that the IRA—the Russian Internet Research Agency—uses bot accounts across multiple platforms in an attempt to sow discord in the U.S., specifically with the intent of creating political division. Twitter released a report in 2018 where they acknowledge over 50,000 automated accounts linked with the IRA that were posting divisive election-related content during the 2016 U.S. election.
Not all bots are malicious, though. Some bots are helpful, such as @QuakesToday that tweets earthquake alerts based on USGS data. Others, like @dscovr_epic, tweet educational or artistic content. And then you have @Horse_ebooks, which is honestly just kind of silly, but not malicious.
What do you think? Is it ethical to use bots on social media?
We also know that the IRA—the Russian Internet Research Agency—uses bot accounts across multiple platforms in an attempt to sow discord in the U.S., specifically with the intent of creating political division. Twitter released a report in 2018 where they acknowledge over 50,000 automated accounts linked with the IRA that were posting divisive election-related content during the 2016 U.S. election.
Not all bots are malicious, though. Some bots are helpful, such as @QuakesToday that tweets earthquake alerts based on USGS data. Others, like @dscovr_epic, tweet educational or artistic content. And then you have @Horse_ebooks, which is honestly just kind of silly, but not malicious.
What do you think? Is it ethical to use bots on social media?
