48 Million Twitter Accounts Exposed as Bots | Social Media | Scoop.it

Data has never been more important to marketers, which is why it is always all the more alarming when it's suggested that a platform is delivering false analytics.


Approximately 15% of Twitter accounts — some 48 million — are bots rather than people, according to new research from the University of Southern California and Indiana University.
While the research is troubling news for Twitter, which has struggled to elevate its user base in the face of growing competition; it is perhaps more frustrating for marketers who trusted the engagement data.


The report elaborates on the percentage of bots, by stating that complex bots could have shown up as humans in their model, "making even the 15% figure a conservative estimate."


Via Jeff Domansky