An estimated two-thirds of tweeted links to popular websites are posted by automated accounts, not humans.
A large share of tweeted links to digital content are generated by bots – i.e. by automated accounts that post content or interact with other users with no direct human involvement. A new Pew Research Center analysis of 1.2 million tweets finds that 66% of the tweeted links to content on popular websites are posted or shared by bots.
The analysis focuses on links to 2,315 popular websites across a range of subjects, including sports, commercial information, celebrities, news and sites created by organizations. Among popular news and current events websites, 66% of tweeted links are shared by bots – similar to the overall share of bot-created links to every kind of popular site. The proportion of bot-shared tweeted links varies depending on attributes of different news and current events sites. For example, 89% of tweeted links to aggregation sites – sites that compile stories from around the web – are posted by bots.
The findings emerge at a time when the role of bots in promoting web material has been swept into the debate over Americans’ changing news habits, the tenor of online discourse and the prevalence of “fake news” online.
“These findings illustrate the extent to which bots play a prominent and pervasive role in the social media environment,” says Associate Director of Research Aaron Smith. “Automated accounts are far from a niche phenomenon: They share a significant portion of tweeted links to even the most prominent and mainstream publications and online outlets. Since these accounts can impact the information people see on social media, it is important to have a sense their overall prevalence on social media.”