Although they may not know it, most internet users today have been exposed to inorganic content created and/or amplified by bot accounts. A bot is a software application that runs scripts, or small programs, that can perform automated tasks. They are especially observable on social media, which were, ironically, created for human interaction. Now, apps like TikTok, Twitter/X, and Instagram are full of misinformation, bots, and ads.
Who, or What, Is Posting?
Between the years 2017-2021, a theory emerged that the internet had been taken over by bots. The theory suggests that most of the internet is now made up of “fake” bot-driven or AI-generated content. Bot accounts are designed to increase engagement by provoking a strong and usually negative emotional reaction from other users to encourage monetizable reactions, like comments, shares, and follows. This allows bots to create a feedback loop with human users and other bots to influence algorithms and community content.
This has resulted in an internet experience that is largely shaped by bots, not human users. Unfortunately, this has led to the creation of homogenized echo chambers, which have serious, real-world impacts. During election periods, conflicts between major political ideas or parties are highlighted and exaggerated to manipulate people into behaving or voting in the way pushed by those controlling the bots. This trend has been observed in many countries, such as during the most recent US presidential elections and in Nigeria’s 2023 general elections.
Distribution of bot and human web trafic worldwide
Credit: Imperva via Statista
Don’t Believe Everything You Read on the Internet
The spread of fake news and misinformation, in particular, is a major concern facing our global society. Although everyone should fact check what they see online, many don’t. Two-thirds of digital content creators fail to fact check and rely on convenient surface-level information. Apart from the obvious danger of believing and sharing misinformation, disconnection from real news makes us vulnerable and more easily manipulated.
How Can We Fight Back Against Bots?
With the overwhelming increase in bot presence and traffic, websites have to find a way to regulate bot behavior. One method is implementing CAPTCHA tools or simply blocking bots to prevent them from scraping content from websites to be used for various purposes, including AI training. They can also apply rate-limiting rules to control network traffic, as malicious bots tend to reload sites multiple times, overloading their servers. Some have also created honeypots, which ruin bot datasets by overloading them with lots and lots of useless information.
The human element is also invaluable, with professional fact checkers and functions like community notes bringing crowdsourced fact-checking directly to posts to prevent you from absorbing misinformation as truth. Content moderators act as the police of “bad” content, making sure users and content on social media sites follow the community rules and are free of misinformation and abuse. Yet despite all these tools and tactics, we still see an avalanche of bot activity.
In such an electronic climate, the question now is how to discern between fact and fiction, half-truths and lies, and bots and humans. We must commit to being more mindful of the news we consume, the people we follow, the content we actively engage with. We should also just be aware of where our information goes and think twice before making that post. Most importantly, taking time off the internet to go outside and touch some grass is the surest way to ground yourself in what is real.
This article was written by a guest contributor, M. Oyejola.
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