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Cited by 270Misinformation and Its ImpactsSocial Media and PoliticsEthics and Social Impacts of AI

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 75 of the 75 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Unpacking the Social Media Bot: A Typology to Guide Research and Policy

Open access
Gorwa, Robert, Guilbeault, Douglas·2020·Policy & Internet
DOI 10.1002/poi3.184
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Abstract

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.

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Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. Adams T.2017. “AI‐Powered Social Bots.” arXiv:1706.05143 [Cs]. June.http://arxiv.org/abs/1706.05143. · arXiv
  2. Bogost I., 2009, Proceedings of the Digital Arts and Culture Conference, 12
  3. Gorwa R.2017. “Computational Propaganda in Poland: False Amplifiers and the Digital Public Sphere.” Project on Computational Propaganda Working Paper Series Oxford UK.comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk.
  4. Hogan B.2012. “Pseudonyms and the Rise of the Real‐Name Web.” SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 2229365. Rochester NY: Social Science Research Network.https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract = 2229365.
  5. Lazarsfeld P.F., 1957, Qualitative Measurement in the Social Sciences: Classification, Typologies, and Indices
  6. Shao C. G.L.Ciampaglia O.Varol A.Flammini andF.Menczer.2017. “The Spread of Fake News by Social Bots.” arXiv:1707.07592 [Physics]. July.http://arxiv.org/abs/1707.07592. · arXiv

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Metadata

Authors
Gorwa, R., & Guilbeault, D.
Affiliations
  • University of Oxford (GB)
  • University of Pennsylvania (US)
ORCID
Venue
Policy & Internet
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2018-08-10
Volume
12
Issue
2
Pages
225-248
ISSN
1944-2866 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1002/poi3.184
OpenAlex
W2953122191
Cited by
270
References
75
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 61 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 2
FWCI
52.83
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Policy & Internet (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Misinformation and Its Impacts
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Social Media and Politics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
Keywords
social bots, election interference, 2016 US presidential election, technology policy, platform companies, Facebook, Twitter

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