Thread by @conspirator0

We've repeatedly noted that @ARTEM_KLYUSHIN is both followed and retweeted by large bot networks. He also follows nearly one million accounts. Is there anything interesting going on there? (Spoiler: yes.)

cc: @ZellaQuixote

https://twitter.com/conspirator0/status/1300599653780598786

https://twitter.com/conspirator0/status/1309668288885149701

https://twitter.com/conspirator0/status/1291345647229173760

We downloaded all of the accounts followed by @ARTEM_KLUYSHIN and plotted the order he followed them by the creation dates of the accounts followed. There are several streaks where he followed thousands of accounts in (mostly) reverse order of creation date. What's going on?

Answer: @ARTEM_KLYUSHIN on multiple occasions followed large swaths of the followers of large accounts in most-recent-follower-first order. For example, @ARTEM_KLYUSHIN followed @history_RF's first ~52K followers in the opposite order that those accounts followed @history_RF.

Here are some more examples of accounts whose followers @ARTEM_KLYUSHIN followed en masse in reverse order: @mudakoff, @ATLANTIS, and @rvio_ru. How did this happen?

(There are additional streaks corresponding to the followers of accounts we haven't yet identified.)

A likely explanation: @ARTEM_KLYUSHIN used the Twitter API (which returns followers in most-recent-first order) to pull the followers of large accounts and follow them via automated means. (He could've done so manually, but that would take a LOOONG time.)
developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitte…

Finally, here's an animated display of the order in which @ARTEM_KLYUSHIN followed the accounts he followed, with the followers of four large accounts whose followers he mass-followed color-coded (217912 accounts followed just from the followers of these four accounts).

*tag is misspelled in this tweet, should be @ARTEM_KLYUSHIN.

https://twitter.com/conspirator0/status/1316890939537956864

(also, we can't help but notice that there appears to be a clause in Twitter's spam policy prohibiting "duplicating another account's followers, particularly using automation". . ..)
help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-p…