Bots on both sides, but the attempt to boost the pro-Modi traffic was the craziest I've seen.
medium.com/dfrlab/electio…
#GoBackModi was among the more heavily gamed hashtags.
#TNwelcomesModi was off the charts.
For the CTM, see comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/upl…
cc @polbots
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D3sOrOrWsAAWCOy.jpg)
1. It's comparative not absolute, so doesn't tell you "gamed / not gamed";
2. It's not just about spotting bots;
3. It shows attempts to manipulate traffic, not if they succeeded.
The first 50,000 tweets on February 9 came from just 891 accounts.
Of those, the top 50 generated over 30,000 posts in under 8 hours.
That's attempted manipulation on an industrial scale.
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D3sT7UkXoAA8jaV.jpg)
That's about one tweet every 15 seconds for almost 8 hours.
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D3sUYsRXsAA_Ij1.jpg)
50,000 tweets from 7,394 accounts.
Over 16,000 tweets from the 50 most active posters.
This was more subtle, but not that much.
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D3sV5rOWAAEGZOu.jpg)
This one posted 2,453 times on February 10. About one post every 40 seconds from midnight to midnight.
h/t @TwitonomyApp
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D3sWhByWwAAcOXd.jpg)
They were too clumsy to have much impact, but the sheer scale of the attempts on both sides is worrying, ahead of the election.
//
Thread ends.