Twitter said that around 8.5 percent of its active accounts are automatically updated even when there's no discernible action initiated from the user. There are all kinds of bots that use Twitter to deliver tweets that are considered nonsense. These would include those that are sudden or urgent sale news and earthquake reports.
In essence, Twitter bots are computer programs that send tweets on their own accord. This revelation clarifies an earlier claim that 14 percent of its MAUs access Twitter even beyond its official site and through mobile apps. This is made possible through Twitter's application programming interface (API).
Twitter specified that the figure of 14 percent included some of those users who have access to Twitter using owned and operated applications. If people access Twitter by logging in to their web-based accounts and other clients, the "bots" would connect directly to Twitter's mainline and would parse the information in real time. Postings are usually done whenever the "bots" feel that there's a need to post.
Twitter added that there are only 11 percent of MAUs that access Twitter using applications that are not owned by the company such as Flipboard or Tweetbot.
Twitter defines MAUs as Twitter users that would log in and access Twitter through its official site, a mobile website, desktop or mobile applications, SMS or registered third-party applications, and websites in the 30-day period that end on the date of measurement. MAUs show the size of its active user base. In the quarter period that ended on June 30, 2014, Twitter had 271 million average MAUs which show that there was a 24 percent increase from the three months that ended in June 30, 2013. The increase in the number of MAUs was caused primarily by product enhancements and organic growth. In the quarter that ended on June 30, 2014, Twitter had average MAUs of 60 million in the U.S. and 211 million in the rest of the world which would mean the numbers have increased by 21 percent and 25 percent, respectively.
Based on the revealed information, some previously unknown data can now be confidently deduced. Twitter's 8 million MAUs (3 percent) use TweetDeck or Twitter for Mac. 7 million MAUs (2.5 percent) use third-party clients. Lastly, 23 million MAUs (8.5 percent) are bots.
"Bots," which make up less than 5 percent of Twitter's total MAUs, are not necessarily fake or spam accounts. In fact, bots can even be useful accounts for many Twitter users. However, once they're set up, there would be no humans that would manipulate them. This is a great concern among advertisers who are turning to Twitter for potential customers. If advertisers are concerned, it only follows that Twitter and its shareholders should be concerned as well.
