It is by no means surprising that many Twitter users are mistaken for bots, or that the term itself has attained a derogatory meaning. However, an interesting phenomenon can be observed on platforms such as Twitter, where human users have adopted a type of bot behaviour to create networks of dissent and to push activist counter-narratives.
Such a moment happened recently on Dutch Twitter. In response to the Black Lives Matter protests, extreme right wing politician Geert Wilders posted an image on Twitter on June 5th 2020 using the hashtag #ZwartePietMatters.[^zwartepiet] Following this post, a wave of fancam[^fanpic] users from the k-pop community flooded the hashtag with video recordings of their favourite k-pop stars, making the thread difficult to follow. Such practices are becoming a common phenomenon across the Twitterscape, where fancams are used not only for praising musicians, but instead for derailing and hijacking hashtags these users consider unacceptable.
Fancam users display an intimate understanding of the platform, so much so that they manually generate noise through collective interventions in various topics. The repetitiveness of their attacks and the high amount thereof clog the thread interface, thus altering its functionality. In this sense, human user interventions can also be phrased as bot logic being applied.
[^zwartepiet]: According to Dutch folklore, Zwarte Piet is the companion of Sinterklaas. When performed, the character is represented through anti-Black imagery: blackface, curly wigs, bright red lipstick. Black activist groups in The Netherlands have been campaigning for the delegitimisation of this character for many years.
[^fanpic]: Fancam is footage focusing on a single member of a band, usually while the group is performing. It can also be used for solo artists.
