A research by the University of Southern California showed that between 9% and 15% of active Twitter users are bots. Monthly audience of service is 319 million people, more 48 million accounts – not real people.
To identify bots were analyzed over thousands of options in categories such as friends, the content of the tweets, the interval between the posts. The research authors note, that the used models are complex bots could be defined as people. Consequently, the number may be even higher than 15%.
For Twitter own estimates, the proportion of bots among the users of the service is significantly lower at approximately 8.5%.
Press Secretary of Twitter stated that bots are not always evil. Many of them can be useful. For example, when automatically alert users of natural disasters.
The research authors also noted the positive side of bots, such as news and publications. However, the number of malicious bots is growing, and today they play a significant role in the spread of disinformation and terrorist ideas, scientists say.
