Most Americans can't recognize social media bots, says study

A recent study from Pew Research Center found that Americans don’t have a lot of knowledge of social media bots.

While two-thirds of Americans have heard about them, not everyone feels confident they can distinguish bots from humans.

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According to the study, 66 percent of Americans are aware of social media bots. The majority of them (83 percent) believe they are used for bad purposes.

In contrast, a third of Americans (34 percent) say they have never heard about bots.

Among the ones who have, only 47 percent believe they can recognize the accounts on social media. The other 53 percent say they wouldn’t know the difference between a real and a fake account.

The good news is most people who are aware bots exist are also worried about their effects. A large number of people believe they negatively affect on how well-informed Americans are.

To begin with, about 81 percent believe a good amount of news on social media comes from bots. Plus, 66 percent of people who know about bots believe they have a negative effect on information about current events. In contrast, only 11 percent think bots have a mostly positive effect.

For more infromation on how much Americans know about bots and their effects, you can read the full study on the Pew Research website.

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