The effectiveness of approaches to bot detection varies, with real-time detection being almost impossible. As a result, this article argues that the general Twitter using public cannot be expected to judge which accounts are bots with certainty and therefore do not know to what extent they are being manipulated online. In this article, the challenge of detecting bots and fake accounts is demonstrated by constructing two distinct methods to bot detection. The first method takes a fixed criteria-based approach, by building on commonly cited identifiers for bots. The second method takes a more flexible, investigative approach in order to uncover bots involved in coordinated efforts to influence online debates. As well as profiling the specific mechanics of how each one operates, we argue that they can be compared against an evaluative framework that specifies a set of key criteria that bot detection methods should meet in order to perform. Here, we identify four key criteria on which these methods can be evaluated and then examine how they perform in terms of the key criteria of accuracy. The results of these methods are then compared and cross-checked against an existing and widely used bot detection service. The findings show that different bot detection methods can present significantly different results and that only confirmation from Twitter, through suspensions or announcements, can truly allow users to know whether an account is a bot or not. We argue that this development could have a significant effect on the level of trust that social media users have both in the information they receive through social media and also in the political process.

机器人检测方法的有效性各不相同，实时检测几乎是不可能的。因此，本文认为，不能指望使用 public 的一般 Twitter 能够确定哪些帐户是机器人，因此不知道它们在网上被操纵到什么程度。在本文中，通过构建两种不同的机器人检测方法来展示检测机器人和虚假账户的挑战。第一种方法采用基于固定标准的方法，建立在机器人常用的标识符之上。第二种方法采用更灵活的调查方法，以发现参与协调努力以影响在线辩论的机器人。以及分析每个人如何运作的具体机制，我们认为，它们可以与一个评估框架进行比较，该框架指定了一组关键标准，机器人检测方法应该满足这些标准才能执行。在这里，我们确定了可以评估这些方法的四个关键标准，然后检查它们在准确性的关键标准方面的表现。然后将这些方法的结果与现有且广泛使用的机器人检测服务进行比较和交叉检查。调查结果表明，不同的机器人检测方法可以呈现出显着不同的结果，只有通过暂停或公告从 Twitter 确认，才能真正让用户知道一个帐户是否是机器人。