Behold an app that analyzes Twitter accounts to identify trolls

Trolldor, is like community policing for Twitter trolls

Published August 18, 2014 10:03PM (EDT)

  (<a href='http://www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=2062822'>patty_c</a> via <a href='http://www.istockphoto.com/'>iStock</a>)
(patty_c via iStock)

Last week you may recall that the daughter of Robin Williams was harassed on social media to the point of leaving both Instagram and Twitter.

Twitter trolls -- whether spammy bots, or other abusive accounts -- are a real issue for the social media site. One they stated they'd address after Zelda Williams quit Twitter. And according to The Daily Dot, they can be tough to spot.

Twitter still must act to protect its users from abusive, or spam-filled accounts. However, there is a new safeguard until they do: Enter Trolldor.

Trolldor is a free service that checks Twitter accounts across several metrics, to determine what percent that user is a troll, and should therefore be reported. "Trolldor works like a blacklist of Trolls, and is open to any user in the world with a Twitter account," their website claims.

Trolldor is sort of like community policing for Twitter. Users can see who is marked as a troll, and report other users. Three reports are required to mark somebody as a troll.

But how do you know if somebody is an annoying Twitter troll? Trolldor has a set of metrics including how many times a person tweets a day, how many followers they have, how many links they send out, etc. They also have percentages that a normal non-troll should have versus a Twitter harasser.

The Daily Dot points out that celebrities often rank within the limits of a troll, however verified accounts cannot be reported.


By Sarah Gray

Sarah Gray is an assistant editor at Salon, focusing on innovation. Follow @sarahhhgray or email sgray@salon.com.

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App Innovation Social Media Technology Troll Twitter