A third of pro-Trump tweets are generated by bots

During each presidential debate, the Twittersphere lights up with rhetoric. Based on trending topics, it appears Donald Trump is more popular than Hillary Clinton.

At least he is with bots, aka automated social media accounts that interact with other users.

According to CNNMoney, university researchers who track political activity on Twitter found traffic on pro-Trump hashtags was twice as high as pro-Clinton hashtags during the first presidential debate. But the team of academics, led by Oxford University professor Philip Howard, also found that 33 percent of pro-Trump traffic was driven by bots and highly automated accounts, compared with 22 percent for Clinton.

The team analyzed 9 million tweets posted around the time of the Sept. 26 debate tracking activity on popular pro-Trump hashtags including #AmericaFirst, #ImWithYou, #MakeAmericaGreatAgain, and #NeverHillary, as well as pro-Clinton hashtags #ImWithHer, #NeverTrump, #WhyIWantHillary and #HillarysArmy.

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