Matthew sent me a copy of his tw**t this morning about Science’s new and expanded list of “science Twi**er stars”:
When I saw this, I told Matthew that I didn’t know what he meant by “bot.” He replied that my Twi**er feed was a “notification list,” i.e., simply an automated list of the posts made on this website. Well, that’s true, and so perhaps I’m the only scientist on the list who has never composed an original tw**t (I’ve dropped to #67 since they expanded the list to include economists and underrepresented groups who qualified but were missed in the original compilation.)
I’ve just been informed, though, via a tw**t by Kristy Rawson also by Matthew, that Paul Krugman, the Nobel-winning economist, also does what I do—feeding his website and columns directly to Twi**er). And he’s high up there at #4 (see below).
Here are the top five “stars,” but go to Science if you really must see them all:
I have no plans to tw**t, although perhaps some day I’ll issue just one original tw**t for the hell of it. The way I look at it, you can tw**t or you can write a website, but if you do both you’ll have no time to do anything else. Sam Harris does both, but he doesn’t allow comments on his website, and doing so is time-consuming.
Anyway, I’m proud to be the only science “bot” (if that is indeed the case) and also to be the only scientist whose picture is not of a human. It’s Hili! (I do note, though, that Paul Krugman is a cat-lover, as he and his wife own two moggies, and he sometimes writes about them on his website.)
What’s next: a list of scientists who have the most Facebook friends?
You certainly have the coolest picture!
Twitter is teaching me all sorts of new ways to be bigoted toward other people.
Mike Massimino stands out as a bit unusual. I wonder if his feed’s popularity is due in part to his cameos on the show Big Bang Theory.
Great shot of Hili yawning? growling??
I think that Paul Krugman’s two cats you mention in the post are already gone:
1. Post about the passing of Doris Lessing, from 2012: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/doris-r-i-p-personal/ .
2. Sad News about the second cat – Albert Einstein, from 2013: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/goodbye-albert-personal/ .
Also, Krugman doesn’t tweet, except for the occasional retweet. His tweets are robo-tweets signalling a new blog post or article.
So it’s hard to believe he has more than 5000 tweets.
Here is a twitter bot “written” by cats about science. twitter.com/catseqbiotech
It’s fine to be a bot or write your own tweets, but I’m suspicious of those who farm out their tweets to agencies (a growing thing) because that’s not what twitter is about. If people want a others to just tweet interesting material on their behalf that is a bit misleading. Do the work or don’t – there is no half ass (what yoda really should say).
Never half-ass one thing. Whole-ass two things.
-Ron Swanson
Wow. It’s late. Invert “one thing” and “two things”.
When I told a friend years ago that I did something “half-assed” she replied, “no, you did whole-assed; you don’t do things half-assed”.
> I have no plans to tw**t, although perhaps some day I’ll issue just one original tw**t for the hell of it.
Before you do, though, you should contemplate on this Non Sequitur cartoon:
http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2011/11/09
Love it!
Bots are the future. In fact, they are us. Most of us just don’t get that we are already machines performing duties imprinted on us by physical laws.
Anyhow, Krugman is indeed worthy of top ten status and a cat lover as well. It is apropos to inject the following Schrodinger Gate: Is this Prof. Ceiling Cat looking at the Conscience of a Liberal or the other way around?
http://funny-pics.co/wp-content/uploads/funny-cat-in-the-fence-picture.jpg
Did not mean to imbed…apologies.
Twitter bots are computer programs that compose Twitter content automatically. Automated tweets that merely point to human-produced content don’t count.
Though perhaps there is a more profound secret that Cobb is trying to tell us.
So we really can’t be sure whether Deepak or the Deepak generator does his tweets, can we?
Why do I find a bot Deepak chilling?
Because it means we’ll never be rid of him?
I believe there is a Deepak-bot (if not several) out there. They work in the same way as the “Daily-Mail-Headline-Generator” and the venerable “Eliza” computerised psychoanalyst.
Let’s hope they don’t all get together & become self aware! I’m sure this must be how Skynet started.
Actually, from reading this here blog more or less regularly, I get the impression that there’s nothing BUT a Deepak generator. And it seems to be seeded with very few distinct statements, too.
How many cats & dogs does Jerry have? Do I have a chance to have my book ” why evolution is true” signed by the author? My book & professor will arrive the city the same day… If not, I will wait for next time. :))
Look! Jerry, You’ve got fan! http://www.meetup.com/atheists-24/events/208562952/#description-tab, we are going to discuss your book and watch your video! :))
How is there no FauxJerryCoyne yet? The potential for humor is unbounded. I, alas, am too lazy.
Economics is an art… not a science!
It would be the Dismal Art then?
“Ladies and gentlepeeps, Prof Ceiling Cat has left his retirement party, and the building”?