Thread by @conspirator0

We have been checking the #TwitterBlackout hashtag for signs of automated activity. We didn't find a lot in terms of volume, but did happen upon a pair of intriguing #resistance bots (@MiamiPapers and @jgionova) that retweet tweets containing the hashtag.

cc: @ZellaQuixote

(we ran across @MiamiPapers once before, when it retweeted this #tacocat #resist tweet that was posted with the goal of attracting bots)

https://twitter.com/conspirator0/status/1101702445409988608

Both @MiamiPapers and @jgionova are automated via custom software, both claim connection to Miami on their profiles, both were created in July 2016, and both of their feeds consist almost exclusively of retweets. What do they retweet?

The two accounts retweets contain almost exactly the same lineup of hashtags - 99% of tweets contain one or more of #NotMyPresident, #Resist, #ImpeachTrump, #GunReformNow, #TrumpRussiaCollusion, and (strangely for 2019) #BlueWave2018.

The word cloud for @MiamiPapers/@jgionova mostly mirrors the hashtags used. The Miami connection surfaces again with #LowTGimenez, a hashtag targeting Miami-Dade mayor Carlos A. Giménez.

Which accounts do @MiamiPapers and @jgionova retweet most frequently? Many appear to be run-of-the-mill #resistance accounts, but a few are more interesting. The most frequently retweeted account ,@cahulaan, is itself a newsbot with a focus on Western MSM.

Standing out like a sore thumb among the accounts retweeted by @MiamiPapers and @jgionova, we have @TRUMPETB2, a bot that specializes in #QAnon and #Chemtrail conspiracy theories. The #resistance bots appear to have picked it up due to its use of #NotMyPresident hashtags.

Finally, there are a few t-shirt sales accounts that got retweets from @MiamiPapers/@jgionova, again likely due to the use of hashtags (#NotMyPresident, #Resist, #blueWave2018) that the pair of resistance bots are configured to retweet.

Update: it took all of 7 minutes for @jgionova to retweet two of the tweets in this thread, including the tweet describing the set of hashtags it and @MiamiPapers retweet.

. . . and apparently stopped by for a second visit eight hours later.

Another bot that retweeted #TwitterBlackout tweets: @BreadZe. This one appears to retweet tweets containing either #TrumpMustResign or #JulianAssange (a bit of an odd lineup) - all of its most recent 3200 tweets contain one of the two hashtags.

Here's a somewhat different visualization of the tweet timings of the bots described in this thread (@BreadZe, @jgionova/@MiamiSecretPapers) showing when they tweeted which hashtags. Organic accounts @Ian56789 and @funder are shown for the sake of comparison.

We'd like to thank @BreadZe for taking an automated interest in this tweet describing its automation. Cheers!

Meet @CyberDeathRay, another retweet bot that picked up #TwitterBlackout tweets. This one appears focused on #ImWithHer; 3148 of its 3148 most recent tweets contain the hashtag. Like the others featured in this thread, it uses a custom app rather than a service such as IFTTT.