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This #WinWithWarren #Warren2020 tweet earned a curious burst of bot affection. Five of the seven accounts to retweet it are automated: @Brief_Era, @Bizz_Profile, @4_Clues, @_4_Emo, and @FlyDcMdVa.
cc: @ZellaQuixote
cc: @ZellaQuixote
@Brief_Era @Bizz_Profile @4_Clues @_4_Emo @FlyDcMdVa @ZellaQuixote How do we know these accounts are automated? Two obvious indicators: each of the five accounts posts 24/7, and each uses custom software to tweet (in this case, apps with similar names to the accounts.) Their profiles seem more commercial than political.
@Brief_Era @Bizz_Profile @4_Clues @_4_Emo @FlyDcMdVa @ZellaQuixote The tweet at the beginning of this thread ain't the only one to be retweeted by all five bots; thus far, they've retweeted 105 of the same tweets. All are political and most mention Elizabeth Warren, with occasional guest appearances by other candidates.
@Brief_Era @Bizz_Profile @4_Clues @_4_Emo @FlyDcMdVa @ZellaQuixote Wordcloud for the five bots in question. Political themes comprise the majority of the vocabulary, with Warren and Trump front and center. Terms related to the accounts' hypthothetical commercial mission(s) such as "taxi", "cab", and #DomainForSale appear here and there as well.
@Brief_Era @Bizz_Profile @4_Clues @_4_Emo @FlyDcMdVa @ZellaQuixote Continuing the theme, the hashtags used and websites linked by the bots are a mixture of political (mostly pro-Warren) and commercial content. As far as the commercial content goes, something about this whole taxi thing seems familiar. . . #DéjàVu
@Brief_Era @Bizz_Profile @4_Clues @_4_Emo @FlyDcMdVa @ZellaQuixote A month ago we encountered a group of taxicab/realtor bots spamming candidate hashtags and #MoscowMitch. Those bots have temporarily set politics aside, but this new batch seems similar and links two of the same taxi sites, falcon . cab and falcon . tours.
