CYBERnyama004 Bots (Part I): InstaPy

This is the first of a series in which we investigate bots. We speak to Tim Großmann, founder and lead developer of an Instagram automation project - InstaPy. A set of tools that can automate an Instagram account's activity, as well as be used to make an Instagram 'bot'. If you are interested in Instagram, automation, bots, Python, or social media then give this episode a listen.

We will also discuss how to get InstaPy running, if you want a bot, or to play with InstaPy. Visit CYBERyama.net for the links contained in the podcast as well a blogpost with some pointers to help get you started.

What are bots? How are bots made? Where do we encounter them in everyday life? How can we use bots to our benefit? What are the practical and moral hazards of using bots?

CYBERnyama begins its investigation into the world of bots by speaking to Tim Großmann founder and lead developer of an open source project called InstaPy. InstaPy is a set of tools for automating the actions of accounts on Instagram such as following, liking and commenting. InstaPy is not a bot  itself, but rather the ingredients that can be used for making an Instagram bot. In this episode we discuss InstaPy, social media automation, and the pros and cons of using bots.

If you are interested in using InstaPy, we discuss what it can do, how to get it running and the challenges and opportunities involved in using it. Check out our summary of how to get started with InstaPy. As we learn about InstaPy we also discuss open source development, how open source projects can benefit us, and what makes for successful open source projects and communities.

Tim Großmann has a number of open source projects on his GitHub profile including Robotopia, a robot-based learning environment for children which teaches them about coding. You can check out Robotopia on GitHub or through a ready to roll graphical interface in the cloud.

Links contained in the podcast:

InstaPy on GitHub
Tim Großman’s GitHub profile
Robotopia – an environment for kids to learn the principles of coding, check it out on GitHub or in the cloud
Automate the Boring Stuff, by Al Sweigart – the book which got Tim into Python and automation
Bountysource – a platform for crowdfunding open source bug bounties
Trump2Cash – a bot that runs sentiment analysis on Trump’s mentions of publicly traded companies and then executes trades on stocks according to its predicted market reaction

The Music on this episode is by Pupajim (lyrics) and Maffi (beats). We usually use the instrumental version of this track, but today features vocals from a robot. The music was used thanks to the record label Jahtari, who were awesome in granting us rights to the EP “I am a Robot” to use on this podcast, if you enjoy this podcast’s Music, show some support buy buying the EP or other music. If you are into robots, chiptunes, reggae, dub, Ataris or Commodore 64s, then check out Pupajim’s Bandcamp and Jahtari.

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