People seem to buy social media accounts to gain credibility and expand their influence, and they seem to sell accounts to make money. But is it really that simple? In recent years, the market for social media accounts has grown larger and more commoditized. By following a few thousand YouTube channels advertised for sale––from the moment they are listed to several months after they are sold––we can begin to tease out patterns and formulate hypotheses.
Furthermore, by comparing the behavior and characteristics of these accounts against a reference sample, it may even be possible to test a few of these hypotheses. In this talk, preliminary findings will be described, along with heavy speculation. Drawing from various lenses, an attempt will be made to explain how an account transitions from posting cat videos to political commentary and cryptocurrency scams, why this matters, the role AI plays, and the negative externalities that arise from the creation of low-quality, attention-grabbing content.
Bio:
Alejandro Cuevas is a Ph.D. candidate at Carnegie Mellon University in Societal Computing, advised by Prof. Nicolas Christin. He is also a part-time researcher with Microsoft Research’s Special Projects team and an incoming postdoctoral fellow at CITP. He spends a lot of time practicing gonzo social science: an immersive, investigative method that involves infiltrating and measuring underground forums and marketplaces for insights. He is a recipient of a CMU CyLab Presidential Fellowship as well as an IEEE S&P Distinguished Paper Award. Prior to CMU, he earned a B.S. from Pennsylvania State University, where he worked with Prof. Peng Liu and Prof. Xinyu Xing on various systems security projects. A Paraguayan native, Cuevas has been invited to speak about his work at the Paraguayan Central Bank and the Paraguayan National Police.
In-person attendance is open to Princeton University faculty, staff and students.
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