According to an analysis by Massachusetts-based cyber security company PiiQ Media, bots GameTop and other “meme” shares have been nurtured on social media platforms, suggesting that organized economic or foreign actors have turned into a reddit-driven business frenzy. May have played a role.
Shares in GameStop rose last month to squeeze hedge funds by Reddit users to place bets against video game retailers and other companies. Reddit chief executive Steve Huffman told Congress this month that automated content bots, artificial or fake accounts did not play an “important role” in GameStop Reddit message traffic.
PIQ Media’s analysis of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube posts, however, found that bots used the platform to push Gametop and other “meme” shares, although it is unclear how influential they were in the overall saga.
A startup that focuses on social media risks, PiiQ said it investigated patterns of keywords such as “The Line the Hold” and GameTop’s stock symbol, “GME”. , It also assessed positions on an unrelated set of shares.
PiiQ said it identified very similar daily “start and stop patterns” in posts related to GameStop, in which activity begins at the beginning of the trading day, followed by a large spike at the end of the trading day. Such patterns are indicative of bots, said Aaron Barr, co-founder and chief technology officer of PONQ.
“We observed clear patterns of artificial behavior in the other four social media platforms. When you think of organic material, it is variable day to day, variable from day to day. It is not the same pattern every day for a month, ”he said.
Based on its authenticity scoring system, PiiQ estimates that there are thousands of bot accounts such as GameShop, Meme Stock, and Dogcoin, swept into a cryptocurrency frenzy. He said that thousands of fake accounts could be purchased for $ 200.
The company did not analyze the Reddit data, but Barr said it would expect to see similar patterns of activity on Reddit, indicating a bot-like or coordinated management interaction.
A representative of Reddit did not comment beyond Huffman’s testimony. Representatives of YouTube, Facebook and its Instagram subsidiary did not respond to requests for comment. Social media platforms generally try to beat harmful bots, Barr said.
A Twitter spokesperson said that “bots” have become a catch-all term that can often misunderstand the nature of the account. The company’s notes can be used on its platform for creative or innovative purposes.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the GameStop saga, and has suspended trading at a handful of companies this month because some “social media accounts may be engaged in a coordinated effort to artificially influence their stock” .
In addition to traders, organized criminals can use social media to lower property prices, and reducing the integrity of American markets is a known target of hostile state actors, Barr said. But it is unclear how successful it is, if there are efforts of this type of influence, he said.
“Measuring the impact of those campaigns is often confusing.”
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