, 4 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
Bot operators who run groups of accounts frequently create them in batches. Analysts sometimes use this trait to detect the presence of bot networks in a set of accounts. Let's try it with the IFTTT bots discussed in the below thread.

cc: @ZellaQuixote
The creation dates/times for the IFTTT bots show several spikes. We'll take a closer look at a point in time in March 2014 when ~30 were created in the span of an hour. Do these accounts look similar?
Answer: yes. We found a set of 33 automated accounts created on March 30, 2014 that all link gaming content on Reddit, with each account being devoted to a different forum/game. The account names follow a pattern: 11 or 12 lowercase letters, alternating consonants and vowels.
It will likely come as no great surprise to learn that the photos used by these bots are borrowed from elsewhere on the internet. In what is likely a clever but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to hide this fact, all of the images have been flipped horizontally.
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