Bots compose nearly 50 percent of all internet traffic, including that on social networks like Twitter. This report from Deutsche Welle calls attention to the oft suspected, but not always discussed issue.
At first, bots scouring the web and retweeting things doesn’t sound like a big deal. Our current presidential candidates, however, could be using bots to pad their Twitter numbers, and that has definite real-world outcomes.
What Are The Numbers?
You might claim that it’s no cause for alarm. Roughly 75 percent of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s Twitter following is “genuine,” according to an estimate from The Atlantic.
They also state that of the 25 percent that could be bots, only about 3 percent of those were blatantly obvious fake accounts. In addition, some accounts that could be interpreted as bots are actually humans using automation software to quickly retweet specific content:
“For all its bot-hybrids, Twitter still appears relatively free from political manipulation, at least for the moment.”
The Effect Of Bots
Does this mean that bots have no influence? Hardly. The behavior of these fake accounts is what makes the difference. A real Twitter user like you or I might read and retweet the things we read on Twitter sporadically.
Bots, on the other hand, can be programmed to hone in on specific talking points.
It appears Trump campaign created spam accounts with Latino names who all tweeted exact same thing in past 2 minutes pic.twitter.com/wHacPOK3qM
— Niraj Warikoo (@nwarikoo) February 24, 2016
They can propagate a message with unerring consistency.
We're killing tremendous people in this country. We have to cherish our Second Amendment. Very important. I'll need the ratings.@DrJillStein
— DeepDrumpf (@DeepDrumpf) July 15, 2016
Both candidates are fighting hard to win the war of ideas online.
Democrats agree more, @PattyMurray.
— ClintonBot (@Clinton_Bot) June 20, 2016
Manipulations like this have the potential to tip the scales in one direction or the other.
Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the number of bot accounts will remain a constant, fall, or continue to grow.
Politics is full of dirty tricks (as the recent Democratic National Committee (DNC) leak fiasco has shown us). There is no way to trace if either campaign is using bots directly, but why not add one more to the arsenal?
For those of you that accept this as a necessary feature of the political process, ask yourselves this: do we really want to keep awarding the responsibility of leading our nation to the best deceivers and most adept hucksters?
Regardless, one thing is certain. Bots will remain a permanent fixture in the online landscape without targeted intervention to disrupt them.
As savvy consumers of media and as individuals dedicated to honesty and integrity, we owe it to ourselves to be wary and consider the source whenever we’re browsing through anything we come across on the Twittersphere.
Check out this video for look at how Twitter bots are used to influence politics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PSYfWtONLo&ab_channel=wochitNews
Featured image: Screenshot Via Twitter.
