Written in JavaScript and implemented in node.js, tiny star fields is a twitter bot that randomly generates a small patch of stars several times a day. This process utilizes a set of unicode characters and white spaces to create little windows to an imagined sky. One may choose to see star clusters or constellations out of the patterns; when viewed in the timeline, they form a river. The bot has become platform to a large community of followers who often interact in the replies field of the bot's tweets. In this way, it has become as much a message-board or gathering-place as an automata.
Twitter bot, sample output available
Every three hours, this bot tweets a generated text field composed of blank spaces and unicode characters that can be interpreted as stars or other celestial bodies, particularly when conceptually framed by the account’s title. Its artistic output has become very popular, rapidly attracting over 70,000 followers and with each tweet being favorited and shared over 300 times. While this project would seem to be more of a visual art than literary bot, consider that it is not generating images, but sequences of characters, spaces, and carriage returns. It is using the materials of writing in the tradition of ascii art and its results are so evocative that it has even inspired a spinoff bot @tiny_astro_naut. Follow this bot to become to explore its tiny endless expanses.
Downloadable Source Code
Description : Javascript source file
Requirements : Modern web browser (such as Chrome)
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