Source: https://gist.github.com/tullyhansen/7621632

# Towards a Taxonomy of Twitter Bots

## Intro

- towards a definition - autonomous non-human agents on Twitter
- critical thinking - MECE, rabbit rule, holding hands
- patterns of behaviour, rather than content
- Twitter largely a textual medium
- crossover between two broadest categories (automated/event-driven), but largely one or the other (maybe?)
- some bots will exhibit both behaviours (active/reactive), but tend to favour one (most commonly, tweeters will also exhibit conversationalist behaviours)
- why not tags?
- The #botMUS test for independence: if nobody else was tweeting, would I continue to operate?

## Independent (of *Twitter* inputs - )

- samplers/ebooks (prefer 'samplers' to distinguish from Markov '_ebooks')
	- [@Horse_ebooks](http://twitter.com/@Horse_ebooks) ( :…( )
- mashups (HT [@LightAesthetic](http://twitter.com/@LightAesthetic))
	- [@LatourSwag](http://twitter.com/@LatourSwag)
	- [@KimKierkegaard](http://twitter.com/@KimKierkegaard)
- Markovs
- permutors/permutators (madlibs/snowclones/piecewise combinators) (HT [@LightAesthetic](http://twitter.com/@LightAesthetic))
- iterators/corpus exhausters (HT [@BooDooPerson](http://twitter.com/@BooDooPerson))
	- [@everyword](http://twitter.com/@everyword)
- randomisers (like iterators, but less intentional…?)
	- [@everycolorbot](http://twitter.com/@everycolorbot) (iterator? Randomiser?)
	- [@killcodes](http://twitter.com/@killcodes)
- p-event/(physical)real-world event-driven/IoT
	- the tower bridge bot
- digital event-driven

## Dependent (operate in response to conditions on Twitter)

- retweeters (on keywords/tags/phrases)
- responders/keyword replying
	- [@stealthmountain](http://twitter.com/@stealthmountain)
- two-centers (RT on keywords/tags/phrases, with comment)
	- [@RedScareBot](http://twitter.com/@RedScareBot)
- functions (parse inputs)
	- [@101atron](http://twitter.com/@101atron)
	- [@MarkovChainMe](http://twitter.com/@MarkovChainMe)
- whisperers (DM)
	- [@magicrecs](http://twitter.com/@magicrecs)
- collectors/multiretweeters/mimics (retweeting paired/matched sets)
	- [@pentametron](http://twitter.com/@pentametron)
	- [@annagramatron](http://twitter.com/@annagramatron)
- mimics (actual spambots)

## Qualities outside of this taxonomy
- multipartite ([@FavThingsBot](http://twitter.com/@FavThingsBot))
- functional/non-functional
- "dying, time traveling mimic[s]" (HT [@tinysubversions](http://twitter.com/@tinysubversions))
	- [@oldsubversions](http://twitter.com/@oldsubversions)
- rhymebots
- images (??)

## Edge Cases

- Umm…
	- multi-tweet generative (oeuvre is a series)
		- [@FavThingsBot](http://twitter.com/@FavThingsBot)
	- mimics/actual spambots "passing" (HT [@tinysubversions](http://twitter.com/@tinysubversions))
	- "dying, time traveling mimic[s]" (HT [@tinysubversions](http://twitter.com/@tinysubversions))
		- [@oldsubversions](http://twitter.com/@oldsubversions)