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Unpacking the Social Media Bot: A Typology to Guide Research and Policy
Policy & Internet ( IF 4.510 ) Pub Date : 2018-08-10 , DOI: 10.1002/poi3.184
Robert Gorwa , Douglas Guilbeault

Amid widespread reports of digital influence operations during major elections, policymakers, scholars, and journalists have become increasingly interested in the political impact of social media bots. Most recently, platform companies like Facebook and Twitter have been summoned to testify about bots as part of investigations into digitally enabled foreign manipulation during the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Facing mounting pressure from both the public and from legislators, these companies have been instructed to crack down on apparently malicious bot accounts. But as this article demonstrates, since the earliest writings on bots in the 1990s, there has been substantial confusion as to exactly what a “bot” is and what it does. We argue that multiple forms of ambiguity are responsible for much of the complexity underlying contemporary bot‐related policy, and that before successful policy interventions can be formulated, a more comprehensive understanding of bots—especially how they are defined and measured—will be needed. In this article, we provide a typology of different types of bots, provide clear guidelines for better categorizing political automation, and unpack the impact that it can have on contemporary technology policy. We conclude by outlining the main challenges and ambiguities that will face both researchers and legislators as they tackle bots in the future.

中文翻译:

打开社交媒体机器人的包装:一种指导研究和政策的方法

关于大选期间数字影响力运作的广泛报道,决策者,学者和新闻记者对社交媒体机器人的政治影响越来越感兴趣。最近,在2016年美国总统大选期间,Facebook和Twitter之类的平台公司被召唤出关于机器人的证词,作为对数字化外国操纵的调查的一部分。面对来自公众和立法者的越来越大的压力,这些公司被指示严厉打击显然是恶意的机器人程序帐户。但是正如本文所证明的那样,自1990年代最早关于机器人的著作以来,人们对于“机器人”到底是什么以及它的作用一直存在很大的困惑。我们认为,多种形式的歧义是造成现代与机器人相关的政策所基于的复杂性的主要原因,而且在制定成功的政策干预措施之前,需要对机器人(尤其是如何定义和衡量)进行更全面的了解。在本文中,我们提供了不同类型的bot的类型,提供了对政治自动化进行更好分类的清晰指南,并阐明了它对当代技术政策的影响。最后,我们概述了研究人员和立法者今后在应对机器人时将面临的主要挑战和模糊性。我们提供了不同类型的机器人的类型,为更好地将政治自动化分类提供了明确的指导方针,并阐明了它对当代技术政策的影响。最后,我们概述了研究人员和立法者今后在应对机器人时将面临的主要挑战和模糊性。我们提供了不同类型的机器人的类型,为更好地将政治自动化分类提供了明确的指导方针,并阐明了它对当代技术政策的影响。最后,我们概述了研究人员和立法者在未来应对机器人时将面临的主要挑战和模糊性。
更新日期:2018-08-10
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