.svg)
Bots are the main distributors of content on Twitter. Learn how bots interact with users and how likely it is that you've encountered one without knowing it.
From automatically sending tweets to sending direct messages, Twitter bots have a lot of possibilities.
Here are the steps you'll need to take to develop your own bot:
With this checklist in hand, it's time to start building.
To create your bot, you need to request a developer account. Don't worry, creating apps on Twitter is free!
Go to the site developer.twitter.com to begin with.
Click on Signup and log in to Twitter using the method of your choice:
Select a user profile that will be associated with the bot. It can be your own personal account, or you can create a new Twitter account.
Remember that if you create a new Twitter account just for the bot, your personal information will still need to be verified, such as your phone number and email address.
Request developer access on behalf of your organization or for personal use.
Twitter needs to understand why you're creating a developer account in the first place.
Whether it's understanding your target audience, detecting trends, or simply keeping tweets, you'll need to specify your intent to get approved.
After you specify a use case, you'll need to answer four additional questions about using Twitter's APIs. Be thorough and truthful in your explanations, as Twitter wants to make sure their platform isn't being used for spam.
Finally, Twitter would like to know if the content of this application will be accessible to a government entity. If you do not provide this information, your request may be rejected.
I get it. Reading the terms of service can be a time-consuming process. So I'm going to explain to you what you're agreeing to by requesting a developer account.
After having reviewed all the terms of use and having accepted them, the last step asks you to verify your identity through your email.
Now that you've verified your developer account, it's time to create your first Twitter application This application will be used to power your bot.
On the developer home page, click Create App, which should take you to the page below:
There are a few details about your application that you will need specify before acquiring API keys and access tokens.
Pretty explicit. What is the name of this project?
The name you choose will appear as the source of a tweet. Think of a username rather than a Twitter ID.
Tell users what your application will consist of.
For example, we are in the process of creating a bot that will retweet our content, and I am letting users know about it.
Any tweet from your bot should be attributed to a source. This source should be the URL of your website.
The last mandatory field is informing Twitter employees about the purpose of your application. While this seems redundant, Twitter wants to make sure your application complies with its terms and conditions.
You can also enter items such as the privacy policy URL, the reminder URL, and the terms of use URL.
However, these items are neither required by Twitter nor required to create your Twitter bot. So let's continue.
Of Python At Node.js, Twitter bots can be programmed, tested, and deployed in virtually any development environment.
However, for the sake of simplicity, we are going to use a Google Script for Twitter bots created by Amit Agarwal.
Your Twitter application and development environment need to be able to communicate with each other for the bot to work.
Start by locating the API keys and access tokens for your Twitter application.
You will find them next to application details. You may need to generate an access token and an access token secret.
Keep your access keys secret as anyone with these keys will be able to access your account.
Also, be sure to check the permissions of your application. By default, they will be set to “Read and write”, which essentially means that your application can perform basic Twitter functions.
However, if you want your application to be able to send direct messages to users, click “Read, write, and direct messages.”
Then, head to the Agarwal script and enter the four keys in the respective fields to connect your Twitter application and development environment:
Now comes the fun part: programming your Twitter bot.
There are a few aspects of this script that you should be familiar with. I am going to detail them:
Let us now return to actions, since there are many of them.
In the example below, I program the bot to send a public response to each tweet in French that mentions the expression “growth hacking.” The text of the response will be as follows:
This next bot will be programmed to send a private direct message to all new followers.
The search field should contain your Twitter ID, in this case it's @StephenMesnild1. The text of the direct message will be as follows:
“Thanks for following me! Check out my website and vote for your favorite growth hack!”
The last bot I'm going to set up will retweet the content with our custom hashtag #letsgrow.
I set the minimum number of favorites to “1", which basically means that all tweets with that hashtag will be cited by the bot as long as they have a like or a favorite. You can set this number as high as you want.
The text quoted in the retweet will be “Check out today's Growth Hack @StephenMesnid1!”
I enter the API keys and the access key identification information, I click on Save And lo and behold, the bot has been deployed.
Now it's time to test it out.
If all goes well, your bot should start its actions, but it's still useful to Do some tests to see if the Twitter bot is active or not.
Click on Check at the bottom of the script to see if an activity has been recorded.
For example, I'm going to see the number of retweets on Twitter with my custom hashtag.
As you can see, the bot has completed the desired action.
If no action is recorded, it does not necessarily mean that your bot is not working. However, it is advisable to check the bot after a few days to ensure that your API keys and access tokens are correct.
It's also worth noting that Twitter has fairly strict guidelines around automation and bots. As noted earlier, Don't program your bot to spam users or retweet sensitive content. It could result in the closure of your bot and even the revocation of your Twitter application.
Programming a Twitter bot is undoubtedly a fun side project, but it does exist other uses that are more important for business users.
Regardless of how you decide to program your Twitter bot, be sure to carefully follow the steps above and experiment with different actions.
