Twitter Suspends Wordle Account That Was Ruining the Game for Players
The account, @wordlinator, would automatically share next day’s answer; social-media company says it violated its rules
By Joseph Pisani
Wall Street Journal
Jan. 26, 2022 4:26 pm ET
Wordle became a world-wide phenomenon this month, partly because people share their results on social-media platforms such as Twitter. PHOTO: STEFANI REYNOLDS/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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Twitter Inc. TWTR 0.65% said it suspended an account that tried to spoil the results for online word game Wordle by tweeting what it said were future answers to players.
The account was deactivated because it violated Twitter’s rules, the company said, which don’t allow sending bulk unsolicited replies, mentions or direct messages.
The bot account, @wordlinator, would automatically respond to players sharing their Wordle results on Twitter, tweeting them the next day’s answer.
“Guess what. People don’t care about your mediocre linguistic escapades,” the account would tweet, according to screen grabs. “To teach you a lesson, tomorrow’s word is…”
Wordle fans warned each other to block the account.
“Guys someone really hates joy,” tweeted one person. “Just what kind of sick, twisted person do you have to be to hate the sight of people enjoying a harmless activity.”
Wordle became a world-wide phenomenon this month, partly because people share their results on social-media platforms such as Twitter and Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook.
The bot was likely able to find the answers because they are easy to find by reading the code used to build the Wordle site. One software engineer used the list of answers to get a leg up by finding the recurring letters in the words.
Wordle, which can only be played once a day, gives players six chances to guess a secret word. Players around the world get the same secret word to solve at midnight in their time zone.
The game has appeared in a “Saturday Night Live” sketch, has been played by “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon and was turned into a cartoon by the New Yorker.
Write to Joseph Pisani at joseph.pisani@wsj.com
Twitter Suspends Wordle Account That Was Ruining the Game for Players - WSJ |
