Twitter’s ‘Not A Bot’ Trial: Battling Bot Activity

Twitter, now known as X, has launched a trial called “Not A Bot” to address bot activity. This trial is exclusive to new users in New Zealand and the Philippines. Under “Not A Bot,” new users have three options to verify their accounts and access the platform.

The trial includes the following verification methods:

1. Pay to Verify as Enterprise: New users can pay to have their accounts verified as enterprise-level, likely aimed at businesses and organizations seeking credibility.
2. Opt Into X Premium: Users can subscribe to X’s premium service, granting access to web-based features and interactions. This subscription model aims to enhance the user experience and discourage bot activity.
3. $1 Annual Fee to Prove Legitimacy: New users can pay a $1 annual fee to prove they are genuine human users. This approach aims to financially deter entities deploying bots.

Users who pay the $1 subscription fee gain access to various actions on the web platform, including posting, liking, replying, reposting, and quoting. Those who opt out of the subscription can only perform “read-only” actions, such as reading posts, watching videos, and following accounts.

The effectiveness of the “Not A Bot” trial’s measures remains to be evaluated, with X yet to provide specific insights into its assessment process.

Bots on social media platforms have long been a concern, and detecting and mitigating them poses challenges. Ongoing advances in AI-driven chatbot technology suggest bots may become even more sophisticated. X’s subscription model aims to address this issue by making automated sign-up difficult and discouraging those deploying bots.

Reactions within the crypto and finance communities, where spam bots are a concern, have been mixed. Some see the pay-to-interact model as a valuable solution to combat bot manipulation, while others view it as a potential detriment to X’s user base. This trial will likely undergo scrutiny and further feedback from the user community as it progresses.