/news-archive/tag/collaboratorium-for-social-media-and-behavioral-studies/ ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Wed, 30 Jan 2019 15:03:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2019/01/30/cosmos-tech-demonstration-series/ Wed, 30 Jan 2019 15:03:49 +0000 /news/?p=73237 ... U.S. State Department officials view how technology can help government agencies battle foreign propaganda]]> Researchers at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock demonstrated to visiting government officials how web-based, social-media tracking technology programs can help government agencies identify and analyze foreign propaganda and disinformation. , Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor of Information Science, and his research team at the Collaboratorium for Social Media and Behavioral Studies (), are one of 14 groups nationwide participating in the U.S. State Department’s tech demo program to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation threats from international terrorist organizations and foreign countries. hosted members of the Department of State Nov. 28 as part of the Other members of the delegation who joined via video conference included representatives from the Department of Homeland Security, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, United States Central Command, and other agencies. Members of the Technology Demonstration Series are touring the country to view technologies that can help achieve its mission to “lead, synchronize, and coordinate efforts of the federal government to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining United States national security interests.” The work of the GEC is focused around four core areas: science and technology, interagency engagement, partner engagement, and content production. During the visit, COSMOS researchers showcased technologies like Blogtrackers and YouTubeTracker, two of COSMOS’ latest applications that help monitor conversations and discourse on social media platforms. These applications further help in tracking information actors and narratives as disinformation is disseminated through social networks including blogs, YouTube, and Twitter. YouTubeTracker demonstrates expansion in COSMOS’ research goals from understanding how people consume media via reading to including viewing-oriented information consumption. “The younger generations consume information more by viewing than reading, so they are becoming susceptible to disinformation that is prevalent on video-based social media platforms,” Agarwal said. Blogtrackers and YouTube trackers use algorithms that can quickly sift through massive amounts of social media data, but also target the right signals toward users who are trying to manipulate the data. Algorithmic warfare is becoming an increasingly hot topic as companies like Google, Twitter, and YouTube have realized that the algorithms they use to search and recommend content to their users are susceptible to manipulation by outside forces, Agarwal said. As an example, hackers could target Google’s search algorithms to make a website with false information appear higher in search results, therefore making the website look legitimate. In the upper right photo, members of COSMOS and the Department of State discuss how COSMOS’ technology can assist in the identification and analysis of propaganda and disinformation.]]> /news-archive/2018/08/22/research-tracking-disinformation-campaigns-social-media/ Wed, 22 Aug 2018 15:14:34 +0000 /news/?p=71418 ... ����Vlog��ý Little Rock paper wins award at international conference for research on tracking disinformation campaigns through social media]]> A ����Vlog��ý Little Rock research paper on strategic integrations of social media platforms received the Challenge Problem Runner Up award at the 2018 International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, and Prediction and Behavior Representation in Modeling and Simulation this summer.�� The research project, “Examining Strategic Integrations of Social Media Platforms in Tracking Disinformation Campaign Coordination,” explores the role of media orchestration strategies in conducting disinformation campaigns. It was presented July 11-13 at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. �� , a fifth-year doctoral student in information science, is the lead author for the paper. He is also a core researcher at (Collaboratorium for��Social Media and Behavioral Studies), a research group led by, Jerry L.��Maulden-Entergy Endowed Chair of Information Science. The paper’s co-authors include Kiran Kumar Bandeli, a third-year doctoral student in information science and a researcher at COSMOS,, former postdoctoral research fellow at COSMOS who is now an assistant professor of computer science at Creighton University, Dr., a research project analyst at the office of Medicaid Inspector General and a postdoctoral research fellow at COSMOS, and Agarwal. The research presents an in-depth examination of the information networks using social network analysis and cyber forensic based methodology to identify prominent information actors and leading coordinators of the disinformation campaigns. �� “Most researchers focus on one platform to study disinformation, but dissemination strategies have evolved,” Hussain said. “Multiple social media platforms are used in coordination to maximize disinformation diffusion. This paper is a step towards identifying these complex strategies. We plan to continue to monitor and identify disinformation dissemination strategies as they evolve.” Using the developed research methodology, the study reveals a massive disinformation coordination campaign pertaining to the Baltic region conducted primarily on blogs, but strategically linking to a variety of other social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and VKontakte. “Currently, the United States and our global partners are in the infancy of where participatory media, technology, and policy meet — a lawless Wild West of social media,” Agarwal said. “This calls for rigorous studies on sociotechnical behavioral modeling, content generation and regulation in social media, cyber-threat assessment, social cyber security, cyber-diplomacy, cyber-human systems, and social computing technologies in general, to develop methodologies to diagnose novel pathologies of online social media This research is a step towards that direction.” The researchers note that at a time when people rely on social media to consume news more than the mainstream media, irresponsible citizen journalism poses a threat to democratic principles and institutions by misrepresenting facts and information. Using,, and tools, the team��demonstrated unique ways of tracking disinformation campaigns that leverage a��mix of various social media platforms to coordinate the campaigns. This research is funded in part by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, U.S. Army Research Office, U.S. Air Force Research Lab, U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, U.S. National Science Foundation, and the Jerry L. Maulden/Entergy Endowment at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Researchers are grateful to the support. In the upper right photo,��Muhammad Nihal Hussain, a fifth-year doctoral student in information science, presents the paper at the 2018 International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, and Prediction and Behavior Representation in Modeling and Simulation this summer.]]> /news-archive/2018/05/25/tech-demo/ Fri, 25 May 2018 16:25:16 +0000 /news/?p=70673 ... ����Vlog��ý Little Rock professor joins program to fight the spread of foreign propaganda]]> University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor and social media infiltration expert Dr. Nitin Agarwal has been selected as a member of the U.S. State Department’s Tech Demo program to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation.�� Agarwal, Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor of Information Science, leads (Collaboratorium for Social Media and Behavioral Studies) at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock. Agarwal’s team of researchers is one of 14 groups throughout the country that is participating in the program, which is organized by the that is charged with leading the U.S. government’s efforts to counter propaganda and disinformation from international terrorist organizations and foreign countries. During the next six months, those participating in the program will be invited to present their research to U.S. State Department officials, who are expected to visit ����Vlog��ý Little Rock in November. Agarwal and COSMOS researchers will showcase technologies like Blogtrackers and YouTube trackers, one of COSMOS’ latest applications. These applications track information providers and narratives as misinformation is disseminated through social media networks including blogs, YouTube, and Twitter. The research is the result of projects supported by millions of dollars in federal grants. YouTube trackers demonstrates expansion in COSMOS’ research goals from understanding how people consume media via reading to including viewing-oriented information consumption. “The younger generations consume information more by viewing than reading, so they are becoming susceptible to disinformation that is prevalent on video-based social media platforms,” he said. The key to the success of programs like Blogtrackers and YouTube trackers is developing efficient algorithms that can quickly sift through massive amounts of social media data, but also target the right signals, Agarwal said. “There are often two main motivations for using YouTube,” he said. “One motivation is monetization. People can make a lot of money off of YouTube, so they want their content displayed in as many places as possible. The second motivation is manipulation. There are also malicious or adversarial actors who eventually want to steer your thinking toward a specific agenda. Once you know the intent of the users, we can pick up the right signals to acquire relevant data.” Algorithmic warfare is becoming an increasingly hot topic as companies like Google, Twitter, and YouTube have realized that the algorithms they use to search and recommend content to their users are susceptible to manipulation by outside forces, Agarwal said. As an example, hackers could target Google’s search algorithms to make a website with false information appear higher in search results, therefore making the website look legitimate. Agarwal attended the technology series’ kickoff event May 2 at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C. Acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs spoke at the event and emphasized the importance of this initiative as a way that the government is working with private industry to stem the spread of false narratives and to authenticate emerging information. “Foreign propaganda and disinformation clearly is not a new problem,” Nauert said. “However, the same technology that has put an ever-growing crowd-sourced encyclopedia in the hands of anyone with an internet connection, has also put a multimedia storyteller in almost everyone’s pocket. It is not always clear which messages may be sponsored by foreign governments or non-state actors. In this charged atmosphere, information – or more frequently its weaponized counterpart, disinformation – is emerging as the secret weapon used by our adversaries to tip the scales. We are at a crucial moment when we must define the problem and develop effective solutions consistent with the rule of law and our democratic norms and values. And we need the folks in this room to help us in that endeavor.”]]> /news-archive/2018/03/09/blogtrackers-cosmos/ Fri, 09 Mar 2018 14:54:46 +0000 /news/?p=69729 ... ����Vlog��ý Little Rock student researcher is uncovering the secrets of the blogosphere]]> In February, more than 409 million people read the over 20.8 billion pages posted on , a popular blogging platform. Blogging remains a popular form of online communication that is growing at an exponential rate, yet few researchers have grasped the potential of data mining the blogosphere for research purposes.�� The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is among the very few universities in the country with a team and projects dedicated to researching blogs. One of the researchers heading this project is , a fifth-year doctoral student in information science and a core researcher at COSMOS (Collaboratorium for Social Media and Behavioral Studies) – a research group led by Dr. Nitin Agarwal, Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy Endowed Chair of Information Science. In 2009, Agarwal developed a program called Blogtrackers, a tool designed to track and analyze blogs and gain insights from the blogosphere. Through Blogtrackers, COSMOS has been actively working on research studies that are supported by grants from the U.S. Office of Naval Research in the fight against cyber propaganda campaigns and��tracked how anti-NATO groups reacted to information released during NATO’s exercises. Agarwal and Hussain also have trained NATO personnel to use Blogtrackers to analyze how false information and fake news stories are spread through social media. “There are not many universities who are analyzing blogs,” Hussain said. “Most just analyze Twitter, but they are missing out on a great social media platform. Almost all fake news is posted on blogs first and then linked to on Twitter. You cannot influence a person in 280 characters, but you can influence people through blog posts.” Hussain, a native of Hyderabad, India, graduated from Osmania University with a bachelor’s degree in information technology. While working as a systems engineer at Infosys, Hussain learned from a friend about research opportunities and graduate school options available at the College of Engineering and Information Technology at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock. �� “I had joined ����Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2014 to pursue my master’s degree in information quality with no intention to pursue a Ph.D., but the opportunity to work with Dr. Agarwal in COSMOS and developing the blog tracking tool led me to pursue my PhD. here,” he said. is currently in a beta stage and can only be accessed by researchers and others who have been trained to use it. However, Hussain is working to make Blogtrackers available for public use. “I want to set up an automated crawler in Blogtrackers so it can collect data on its own without much human intervention,” he said. “Once the pipeline is set up to collect data, it would allow people to set up their own data set of blogs and to analyze blogs for their own purposes.” In addition to researchers, Blogtrackers could be of great use to businesses, teachers, social scientists, journalists, public affairs personnel, and the military, Hussain noted. With Hussain set to graduate in December, he is pursuing opportunities to work in academia or for a research company. However, he would love to stay at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock to continue researching and developing Blogtrackers for public use in the near future. “I thank ����Vlog��ý Little Rock for introducing me to Dr. Agarwal,” he said. “����Vlog��ý Little Rock plays a big role in supporting these great research projects on campus. We are one of the very few universities in the country who are researching blogs. This cutting edge research will snowball into bigger things for the university and provide many research opportunities for students.” The Blogtrackers research project is supported in part by grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Office of Naval Research, U.S. Air Force Research Lab, U.S. Army Research Office, U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the Jerry L. Maulden/Entergy Endowment at the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding organizations. The researchers gratefully acknowledge the support.]]>