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Stephen Colbert’s new Twitter parody account heaps robotic praise on Fox News

Catch the bot before it gets sent to Twitter jail.

 

Audra Schroeder

Internet Culture

Posted on Nov 5, 2013   Updated on Jun 1, 2021, 2:35 am CDT

Stephen Colbert’s relationship with Fox News is straight out of a romantic comedy: Will they or won’t they?

The host most recently praised the network (that is, took it to task) for its updated newsroom full of absurd screens and Shepard Smith’s apparent addiction to Candy Crush. But last night, after referencing author David Folkenflik’s new takedown of the news channel, he took praise to another level.

Specifically, the level of a Twitter bot. With the help of his producer, Rob Dubbin, Colbert recently launched the account @RealHumanPraise, which grabs lines from positive movie reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and adds in names of Fox reporters. Every two minutes. And it’s already surpassed 18,000 tweets.

All your favorite hosts are there:

Nearly every aspect of the Sean Hannity myth we know today is embodied in this exciting, socially aware adventure. #PraiseFOX

— Real Human Praise (@RealHumanPraise) November 5, 2013

Huckabee doesn’t try to look like or resemble Trace Gallagher, but he does wind up embodying him. #PraiseFOX

— Real Human Praise (@RealHumanPraise) November 5, 2013

A minor but enjoyable Neil Cavuto and George Will collaboration. #PraiseFOX

— Real Human Praise (@RealHumanPraise) November 5, 2013

The question is: How long will this praise bot last before Twitter pulls the plug? Possibly signaling fatigue, the bot’s already starting to get a little dark in content:

One of those grand horror stations that induces discomfort by showing practically nothing. #PraiseFOX

— Real Human Praise (@RealHumanPraise) November 5, 2013

Earlier today, the Fox News site displayed some interesting headlines, after an alleged internal error caused “dummy” copy to appear, which made it some of the most compelling reading the site’s had in years.

H/T Defamer | Screengrab via Colbertnation.com

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*First Published: Nov 5, 2013, 7:27 pm CST