Tweeting via the Twitter website or phone app is usually a sign that an account is human-operated. @PDFStreaming is an exception: although it supposedly tweets via “Mobile Web (M2)”/“Twitter Web Client”, it is almost certainly a bot due to 24/7 activity.
cc: @ZellaQuixote
cc: @ZellaQuixote
@PDFStreaming @ZellaQuixote Up until March 2018, @PDFStreaming achieved its automation via Hootsuite. We’re uncertain as to why the tools used were changed - possible reasons include losing access to Hootsuite, wanting features Hootsuite didn’t have, and wanting to hide the automation.
@PDFStreaming @ZellaQuixote In terms of content, @PDFStreaming is a fairly straightforward sort of bot. It tweets two things: links to websites (mostly news) and “thanks for following us” tweets directed at new followers. Speaking of followers. . .
@PDFStreaming @ZellaQuixote Although recent follower growth looks organic, @PDFStreaming’s first 9200ish followers are anything but. Many were created and joined in batches of hundreds of accounts, and the others lack the usual 2009 spike in creation dates.
@PDFStreaming @ZellaQuixote Here are four of the batches of likely fake followers that followed @PDFStreaming early on. All of them share the common feature of having few or no tweets, likes, or followers of their own, and there are patterns in the account names. One batch is in Arabic.
@PDFStreaming @ZellaQuixote Among the weirder batches of early @PDFStreaming followers: 104 accounts with either “IDs Haidal” or “tanpan4rt was here” as their display name.
Interestingly given the fake followers, @PDFStreaming’s very first follower is a “social media marketing”, @SM_Strategies.
Interestingly given the fake followers, @PDFStreaming’s very first follower is a “social media marketing”, @SM_Strategies.
@PDFStreaming @ZellaQuixote @SM_Strategies (previous threads on bots that automate the Twitter website)
