reddit bots

reddit bots created for CMC's CSCI040 class

(The specific requirements for this assignment can be found at the course webpage)

What did the bots do?

These bots ran a madlibs type text generator to create reddit comments promoting certain political candidates. Of the five bots I was running simultaneously, four created pro-Trump comments, and one generated pro-left comments. The text of these comments was inspired by the types of messages seen on fake social media accounts during the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Complications

These bots are fully functional, which is not to say they ran perfectly smoothly. After obtaining over 800 valid comments on each bot, the first subreddit being used was banned. After hitting over 500, the second subreddit was shut down. Additionally, on some, but not all of the bots, the number of valid comments generated began to decrease suddenly and unexpectedly. In light of this, please note that if you run the bot_counter.py file yourself, the number of comments may not exactly match those posted below. I continued to run the bots after obtaining the required 500 comments per bot in the hope of obtaining 1000 on any one of them. As a result, the outputs may be lower or higher than those saved and recorded below.

Photographic Evidence

This post can be found in the wild here I like this post because it looks (both funnily and concerningly enough) like a conversation you would find on a grandmother's facebook page.

Optional work done

Many of the optional tasks were completed. These are listed below:

• 100 valid comments posted on one bot
• 500 valid comments posted on one bot
• 5 bots run simultaneously, each producing at least 500 valid comments

The task 1000 valid comments posted on one bot was (frustratingly) nearly achieved, but remained consistently out of reach. Subreddits would either get banned, or bots would invalidate their own comments.

Bot Counts (via the bot_counter)

The command line input as well as the output for running the bot_counter.py file on each of my bots is shown below.

bot 1

PS C:\Users\natha\OneDrive\Desktop\CMC2021-2\CSCI040\reddit_bot> python3 bot_counter.py --username=CSCIbot
len(comments)= 1000
len(top_level_comments)= 2
len(replies)= 998
len(valid_top_level_comments)= 2
len(not_self_replies)= 998
len(valid_replies)= 708
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valid_comments= 710
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NOTE: the number valid_comments is what will be used to determine your extra credit

bot 2

PS C:\Users\natha\OneDrive\Desktop\CMC2021-2\CSCI040\reddit_bot> python3 --username=CSCIbot-jr --praw_name=bot2
len(comments)= 1000
len(top_level_comments)= 0
len(replies)= 1000
len(valid_top_level_comments)= 0
len(not_self_replies)= 1000
len(valid_replies)= 905
========================================
valid_comments= 905
========================================
NOTE: the number valid_comments is what will be used to determine your extra credit

bot 3

PS C:\Users\natha\OneDrive\Desktop\CMC2021-2\CSCI040\reddit_bot> python3 --username=CSCIbot-affiliate --praw_name=bot3
len(comments)= 1000
len(top_level_comments)= 5
len(replies)= 995
len(valid_top_level_comments)= 1
len(not_self_replies)= 995
len(valid_replies)= 913
========================================
valid_comments= 914
========================================
NOTE: the number valid_comments is what will be used to determine your extra credit

bot 4

PS C:\Users\natha\OneDrive\Desktop\CMC2021-2\CSCI040\reddit_bot> python3 bot_counter.py --username=another_CSCIbot_2 --praw_name=bot4
len(comments)= 1000
len(top_level_comments)= 553
len(replies)= 447
len(valid_top_level_comments)= 106
len(not_self_replies)= 447
len(valid_replies)= 429
========================================
valid_comments= 535
========================================
NOTE: the number valid_comments is what will be used to determine your extra credit   

bot 5

PS C:\Users\natha\OneDrive\Desktop\CMC2021-2\CSCI040\reddit_bot> python3 bot_counter.py --username=opp_bot --praw_name=bot5
len(comments)= 1000
len(top_level_comments)= 78
len(replies)= 922
len(valid_top_level_comments)= 54
len(not_self_replies)= 922
len(valid_replies)= 786
========================================
valid_comments= 840
========================================
NOTE: the number valid_comments is what will be used to determine your extra credit

Score?

1. Because of the successful completion of the mandatory tasks, and the creation of this GitHub Repo, 20 points should be awarded.
2. Because of the successful completion of the task 100 valid comments posted on one bot, 2 points should be awarded.
3. Because of the successful completion of the task 500 valid comments posted on one bot, 2 points should be awarded.
4. Because of the successful completion of the task 5 bots run simultaneously, each producing at least 500 valid comments, 2 points should be awarded.

In total, 26/30 points were earned.

Naturally, there are no objections to recieving more than this amount.