MemeCannon

.NET Core console app that tweets folders/campaigns of nonrepeating images + hashtags randomly every 1-3 minutes till you stop it, or it runs out of images.

Functions using the Twitter API. You MUST have a Twitter Developer account. They are free and you can apply here https://developer.twitter.com/en Create a Twitter app with 'Read and Write' app permissions. The type of app should be a 'Web App, Automated App or Bot'

Everything is well below their spamlimits, 1-2 tweets per minute. No install, just run. I've been using it with MemeFarmers mega meme archives for a couple months. Turn it on and it just runs thru 500+ files until you stop it or it's done. It's running right now.

X:\MemeCannon\Bernie <- Campaign folder X:\MemeCannon\Biden\hashtags <- campaign sub folder that contains configuration information

Builds out a dynamic menu and you choose your campaign/folder and default hashtags. Everything funnels thru your Twitter Developer acct. <5MB and is open source, except for my app keys.

Install MemeCannon

To Install:

1. Download and install the .NET 6.0 runtime installer for your OS [.NET 6.0 Runtime - https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/6.0]
2. Download and unzip the release to your chosen install location IE: D:\MemeCannon. It even comes with a sample Testing and Comey 3 meme ammopack.
3. Add your Twitter App API Consumer Key and API Consumer Secret to the D:\MemeCannon\MemeCannon.dll.config. You only need to do this once. The system will encrypt the values after the first run.
4. Set the ImageSourceFolder to a folder that includes many folders of memes ready for the MemeCannon. Assuming your folder structure looks something like this: IE: D:\MemeCannon\Ammo Set the ImageSourceFolder value in D:\MemeCannon\CannonConfig.json to "D:\MemeCannon\Ammo\"
5. Store Memes in their Campaign folder [Comey] below the 'Ammo' folder. IE: D:\MemeCannon\Ammo_Test\ or D:\MemeCannon\Ammo\Comey\
6. Edit the random hashtags, default hashtags and mentions for each campaign in 'D:\MemeCannon\Ammo\Comey\config\CampaignConfig.json'. MinimumDelay and MaximumDelay are the number of minutes to wait between posts. 'Default Hashtags' are hashtags that you can include with every meme tweet. Each 'campaign' has it's own set of hashtags that it will randomly select. HashtagCount is the number of hashtags to include from the campaign, plus the default hashtags, if enabled when running.
7. Compile and run. (Don't need to compile if you are just downloading the release) IMPORTANT!! If you have not run the app previously, it will prompt you to Authorize this app to tweet using your Twitter Account. Make sure you are logged into the Twitter Account you want to authorize the MemeCannon app for. Copy the PIN after authorizing on the Twitter Website and paste it into the MemeCannon prompt. It will save and encrypt these values into the CannonConfig.json as the AccessToken and the AccessTokenSecret. Currently only supports a single Twitter Account. A D:\MemeCannon2 install with it's own CannonConfig.json, could operate using the same Ammo folders but a different Twitter account in parallel. Mind the rate limits that are associated with each Twitter App, only 300 tweets per 3 hrs. https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/basics/rate-limits. Using the default MemeCannon config where it tweets every 1-3 minutes, you should end up with around 25 avg tweets per hour, but it could theoretically go as high as 60 TPH. The MemeCannon has a safety to shut down when you cross the 60 TPH limit to avoid having your app or user banned.

To Run:

1. Choose your campaign by number and if you want to include the default hashtags in selected CampaignConfig (y/n).
2. Choose if you want to include mentions (y/n). DANGER! Overuse of this feature may cause your accounts to get banned. The system is hard coded to only include a single mention per tweet. A Mention is tweeted as '.@ElonMusk'
3. Watch it work until it runs out of images or you stop it.

End app by closing it down, or [ctrl-C]

Config Files

• MemeCannon.dll.config - Stores your Twitter API Application Consumer Key and Secret. Once this is working you won't touch this file again.
• CannonConfig.json - Stores all the config information that the MemeCannon needs. The Twitter account's access token and secret and the ImageSourceFolder that tells the app how to build the menu and where to find the meme campaigns.
• filenames.json - Stores the filenames of all the images the MemeCannon has posted for this campaign. It won't post images that are in this file, just empty out the array '[]' to start over.
• CampaignConfig.json - Allows users to override some of the default values for each campaign. This way you can include default hashtags in every tweet, as well as hashtag count, Min and Max delays per campaign.
• [campaign]\config\CampaignConfig.json\Hashtags - Stores the '#' delimited list of hashtags to choose from for this campaign. IE: ["#ComeyKnew", "#BrennanKnew"]
• [campaign]\config\CampaignConfig.json\Mentions - Stores the '@' delimited list of twitter users to mention when tweeting. IE: ["@memecannon17", "@ElonMusk"]

Q&A

What is this thing and can I run it? MemeCannon written in C#.NET 6.0, should run cross platform with the right framework. It's just a small console app that looks in a configured folder for images, and posts them to twitter with hashtags and mentions. I organize memes in different folders X:\MemeCannon\Ammo\Biden, X:\MemeCannon\Ammo\Bernie and it builds a menu of the different folders. You select which folder/campaign to run. Each Campaign has it's own CampaignConfig.json and filename.json files.

Bad News? It only works if you have a [free] Twitter Dev account. Part of the beauty of this is that it's using their own API's. They can't shut us all down without shutting down their API. Distributed is good.

Size? ~5MB Total + your memes.

Do i need to download just the release and unpack? Ya unless you have Visual Studio all set up and ready to build. Install the .NET 6.0 Runtime for console applications. Extract to where you want it. Find and edit the MemeCannon.dll.config so that it contains your Twitter API ConsumerKey/secret. In the source it's app.config, but that changes to [Executable].config when you build. Configure the ImageSourceFolder in CannonConfig.json. Run MemeCannon.exe when you're all configured.

How long does that usually take to get a Twitter Dev account? I had to wait a couple weeks, but that included going back and forth on the description of my app with Twitter not meeting their guidelines. YMMV. I don't think it matters what you are describing as your app, because once you are in, you can make more apps (10?) without waiting around.

How do I set it up to tweet 60 TPH (Tweets Per Hour)? Set the D:\MemeCannon\Ammo[campaign]\config\CampaignConfig.json\MinimumDelay and MaximumDelay to 1. If you wanted 1 TPH, set them both to 60.

Can I edit CampaignConfig.json while the app is running? I want to change my hashtags. Go for it. Should be OK, but try and time it between tweets if you want to inject new hashtags or mentions.

WARNING!

Be aware that once you add your Dev keys and run the MemeCannon it will encrypt the ConsumerKey and ConsumerSecret and update the MemeCannon.dll.config. This does NOT secure your Twitter keys, it only encrypts them for local safety. Not recommended to distribute these values. CannonConfig.json : UserAccessToken and TokenSecret will be put in there by the app once you give it the OK. That's the keys that Twitter uses to auth your Twitter Account to the MemeCannon TwitterDevKeys. They are only valid when used with the original Twitter Dev keys. Clear these values to use a different Twitter account.

Abuse of the Mentions feature can cause your accounts to get banned. Review the Twitter Automation rules to make sure of your config https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-automation