Twitter is testing new tags on the platform that will help you identify whether the Tweet you’re reading was posted by a human or bot account.
According to the microblogging platform, “The automated accounts you can see on Twitter include bots that help you find appointments for vaccines and disaster early warning systems.” Having a tag on such accounts gives other (human) users a better understanding of the bot’s purpose.
What is a bot and what is not? We make it easier to identify #GoodBots and your automated Tweets with new tags.
Starting today, we’ll test these tags to give you more context on who you’re engaging with on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/gnN5jVU3pp
– Twitter support (@TwitterSupport) September 9, 2021
Twitter claims that the feature has been implemented to select developer accounts, allowing them to apply tags to indicate whether a tweet has been automated by a “good bot” or not. The labels include a picture of a robot head and the words “Automated By” or simply “Automated”.
The new feature comes after Twitter declared last year that high-quality bot accounts must be identified as such. It stated at the time that developers must clearly state whether an account is a bot and identify the person operating the account. “Automated tags help you identify the good bots from those that contain spam and are all about transparency.” read the Twitter FAQ on automated accounts.
The new tag feature will first be available to around 500 developer accounts and will expand to all developer accounts by the end of 2021.
Twitter has been hard at work with updates and test experiments in recent weeks, including the ability to hide old tweets, emoji reactions for Twitter users in Turkey, edge-to-edge media on your feed, thematic discussion groups called ‘Communities’ , remove followers without blocking them, a new security mode and paid content with the new ‘Super Follows’ feature.
Source: @Twitter Help