Yeah, I can't say 100% how accurate that information is. I've also made bots that do exactly what yours does, but different prompts/responses.

I was inspired by GloatingPig: https://twitter.com/GloatingPig

Anyway, in my research, those are some of the things I found, but I don't have citations. I think the @replies are the more important half of things, and I imagine those bigger ones get a pass because they're so popular.