Twitter testing new feature that will make it easier to identify bot accounts

Twitter is testing out new labels on the platform that will help you identify if the Tweet you’re reading was posted by a human or a bot account.

According to the micro-blogging platform, “automated accounts you might see on Twitter include bots that help you find vaccine appointments and disaster early warning systems.” Having a label on such accounts gives other (human)users a better understanding of the bot’s purpose.

What's a bot and what's not? We're making it easier to identify #GoodBots and their automated Tweets with new labels.

Starting today, we’re testing these labels to give you more context about who you're interacting with on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/gnN5jVU3pp

— Support (@Support) September 9, 2021

Twitter states that the feature has been rolled out to select developer accounts, allowing them to apply labels to indicate whether a tweet has been automated by a ‘good bot’ or not. The labels include a robot head image and the words ‘Automated by,’ or simply ‘Automated.’

The new feature comes after Twitter stated last year that high-quality bot accounts must self-identify as such. It stated at the time that developers must clearly indicate if an account is a bot and identify the person operating the account. “Automated labels help you identify good bots from spammy ones and are all about transparency,” reads Twitter’s FAQ about automated accounts.

The new label feature will first be available to about 500 developer accounts and expand to all developer accounts by the end of 2021.

Twitter has been going hard with updates and test experiments in the last few weeks, including the ability to hide old Tweets, emoji reactions for Twitter users in Turkey, edge-to-edge media on your feed, themed discussion groups called ‘Communities,’ removing followers without blocking them, a new Safety Mode and pay-to-view content with new ‘Super Follows’ feature.

Source: @TwitterSupport