Twitter set to label automated accounts

Twitter will now label automated accounts.

The social media platform announced this week it is testing out labels for some automated accounts, also known as Twitter bots, which will flag the bots to other users as well as letting them know which ones are useful.

Bots are often associated with negative actions on social media, but some of them can be helpful, with some bots on Twitter serving functions like reminding followers to drink water or posting surreal procedurally generated art.

In the past, Twitter has applied its bot crackdowns with a broad brush, meaning that the good bots get punished alongside the negative ones, and the social media site is hoping its new feature will stop that from happening.

A tweet from the Twitter Safety account read: “Bot or not? We’re making it easier to tell. Meet the #GoodBots with a new label to identify some of the safest and smartest automated accounts on Twitter. (sic)”

The new feature is being rolled out to a limited number of bot-account owners via an invite-only test that will let them identify their botted accounts with the new label.

In a blog post, Twitter said: “When these accounts let you know they’re automated, you get a better understanding of their purpose when you’re interacting with them.”

© BANG Media International