Josefine's Bot Catcher
Ladies and Gentlemen, real people everywhere, DO NOT FAV THIS PICTURE!
Today the newly formed group "Anti-Bots and Anti-Fake" www.flickr.com/groups/anti_bot_anti_fake_photo/
is conducting a social experiment. By all means feel free to comment below, but please make sure your comment shows you are a real thinking person.
You see social media is now being taken over increasingly by Bot-users. You know, the ones you see on Flickr with 80,000 followers. How on earth did they get that number you ask (they're no Steve McCurry or Sebastio Salgado)? Well, it's simple really, they employ these Bots to scour the Flickr pages faving and following and just as quickly unfaving and unfollowing - you must have noticed this trend?
So we want to out some of these Bot-users. You see Bots can't read, all they can do is go to a page and do what they are programmed to do. So we expect that almost all the favs we get here will be from Bot-users. Of course we'll double check the stats and dismiss any silly accidental favs. But we will catch us some Bots! When we do we will BLOCK them because we want to shut them out of our own networks - they are only interested in milking us anyway.
A very special thanks to Josefine S. who developed this superb tool. Please visit her page in appreciation. www.flickr.com/photos/72616463@N00/
Feel free to keep checking back in to see how we are doing. Several members of the group are conducting this experiment simultaneously.
For more information about Bots check this out: petapixel.com/2017/02/27/real-reason-suck-photo-sharing-s...
****UPDATE:
(1) Last night I was followed by a "person". He has 53.1K followers and has followed me at least once before. I recognised the name. Naturally he unfollowed me rather quickly (which is what these bots do). When he (or should I say his Bot) followed me again last night I commented to a friend that I wished he had waited until today.
Well this morning (like clockwork) he's unfollowed me again. He's obviously a very curious case because someone has left this comment on his testimonial: "There must be something wrong with your account: Each day I get a notification that you?re following me. I'm happy that you seem to like my pictures and want to keep up to date. But do you also unfollow me each day in order to refollow me soon after...? Sorry, but I have to block you."
That's classic Bot behaviour. And in the time I've typed this he's followed me again (twice within six hours!). So everybody beware this person is using a Bot service. He is blocked!
(2) There's a comment below which goes with a fav. The comment says, "Wonderful photograph Have a great weekend my friend."
I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions. Followed by 5K and following 1.4K. Nice comment, but for me it's a block.
(3) A well known person on Flickr with 35K followers and only following 670 people has faved this "picture". That is the classic profile of a Bot user. Many of you are probably following this guy (perhaps inadvertently). He loves to surf!
Josefine's Bot Catcher
Ladies and Gentlemen, real people everywhere, DO NOT FAV THIS PICTURE!
Today the newly formed group "Anti-Bots and Anti-Fake" www.flickr.com/groups/anti_bot_anti_fake_photo/
is conducting a social experiment. By all means feel free to comment below, but please make sure your comment shows you are a real thinking person.
You see social media is now being taken over increasingly by Bot-users. You know, the ones you see on Flickr with 80,000 followers. How on earth did they get that number you ask (they're no Steve McCurry or Sebastio Salgado)? Well, it's simple really, they employ these Bots to scour the Flickr pages faving and following and just as quickly unfaving and unfollowing - you must have noticed this trend?
So we want to out some of these Bot-users. You see Bots can't read, all they can do is go to a page and do what they are programmed to do. So we expect that almost all the favs we get here will be from Bot-users. Of course we'll double check the stats and dismiss any silly accidental favs. But we will catch us some Bots! When we do we will BLOCK them because we want to shut them out of our own networks - they are only interested in milking us anyway.
A very special thanks to Josefine S. who developed this superb tool. Please visit her page in appreciation. www.flickr.com/photos/72616463@N00/
Feel free to keep checking back in to see how we are doing. Several members of the group are conducting this experiment simultaneously.
For more information about Bots check this out: petapixel.com/2017/02/27/real-reason-suck-photo-sharing-s...
****UPDATE:
(1) Last night I was followed by a "person". He has 53.1K followers and has followed me at least once before. I recognised the name. Naturally he unfollowed me rather quickly (which is what these bots do). When he (or should I say his Bot) followed me again last night I commented to a friend that I wished he had waited until today.
Well this morning (like clockwork) he's unfollowed me again. He's obviously a very curious case because someone has left this comment on his testimonial: "There must be something wrong with your account: Each day I get a notification that you?re following me. I'm happy that you seem to like my pictures and want to keep up to date. But do you also unfollow me each day in order to refollow me soon after...? Sorry, but I have to block you."
That's classic Bot behaviour. And in the time I've typed this he's followed me again (twice within six hours!). So everybody beware this person is using a Bot service. He is blocked!
(2) There's a comment below which goes with a fav. The comment says, "Wonderful photograph Have a great weekend my friend."
I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions. Followed by 5K and following 1.4K. Nice comment, but for me it's a block.
(3) A well known person on Flickr with 35K followers and only following 670 people has faved this "picture". That is the classic profile of a Bot user. Many of you are probably following this guy (perhaps inadvertently). He loves to surf!