Bot Profile: CapsCop
CapsCop finds users who have tweeted in all caps and contacts them to tell them to stop.
Every minute, and sometimes several times a minute, CapsCop identifies a user who has tweeted using all capital letters. The bot replies to the user’s tweet with one of several witty, preprogrammed responses. CapsCop also adds users to several Twitter lists with names like “Jail” and “Life Imprisonment” if they are contacted by the bot frequently.
CapsCop seems to be viewed by some as a troll, others as a public service, and still others as a source of entertainment. Users who have been contacted by the bot sometimes retweet the bot’s message to their followers. Others reply to the bot with a comeback joke, a simple “thank you,” or an irate message for intruding into their conversations. Less frequently, users familiar with the bot who notice a friend tweet in all capitals in their twitter feed will invite the bot to contact their friend by mentioning the bot (e.g. “cc @capscop”).
The bot’s creator keeps track of user statistics and explains some additional features on capscop.com. Contact the bot with another user’s Twitter handle and the hashtags #snitch or #narc, and the bot will search the user’s recent updates specifically, looking for an all-caps tweet to trigger a reply. Those who mention the bot with the #stats hashtag will receive a reply with an all-time count of times contacted. Finally, while it’s not mentioned in the bot’s user profile or posted on the capscop.com site, users can opt out of potential future interactions with the bot by simply mentioning the bot and a safe word, “banana.”
Further reading: from the bot creator, TheFW
