On: Nearly 20% of active Twitter accounts likely to be fake or spam

[thewebcount]

> * Twitter allows that number to remain so high to avoid introducing friction like captcha into real users' experiences

This doesn't pass the smell test in my opinion. Given that everyone who tries to create an account without a phone number has to go through the friction of getting their account locked immediately, they clearly don't care about this sort of friction. Not to mention the friction of just trying to view a tweet which has been discussed at length on HN before.

[thecleaner → thewebcount]

The difference is between posting a tweet everytime and going through the friction once. That's what he's talking about. You are comparing different things.

[throwmeawayy → thewebcount]

I have a Twitter account with > 10k followers that is a few years old. Created without a phone number, and of course, immediately locked. Somehow, managed get it unlocked and still going on a few years later without a phone number. Though, I'm always in fear of the ban hammer.

[google234123 → throwmeawayy]

How about you add a phone number if you are living in constant fear?

[shapefrog → thewebcount]

> Given that everyone who tries to create an account without a phone number has to go through the friction

Yes

> Not to mention the friction of just trying to view a tweet which has been discussed at length on HN before.

Yes

Now imagine filling out 3 captchas every time you open the twitter app on your phone, 1 for ever time you tweet and 1 for every person you follow.

Most users of twitter, use either an app on their phone or the cookies in their browser suffer the friction of forgetting their password (likely password1 btw) because they have to log in so infrequently.

[ASalazarMX → thewebcount]

Also, bot networks are so kind as to label themselves with the same hashtag, I don't understand why Twitter doesn't analyze trending topics to detect bots. There's always dormant accounts with thousands of followed/followers who start the propaganda.