False Information, Bots and Malicious Campaigns: Demystifying Elements of Social Media Manipulations
It addresses the challenge of fragmented research in combating social media manipulations for online social network providers and researchers, but is incremental as it consolidates existing work.
This paper tackles the problem of social media manipulation by synthesizing interdisciplinary research to provide a comprehensive analysis of elements like false information, bots, and malicious campaigns, identifying gaps and emphasizing the need for integrated approaches.
The rapid spread of false information and persistent manipulation attacks on online social networks (OSNs), often for political, ideological, or financial gain, has affected the openness of OSNs. While researchers from various disciplines have investigated different manipulation-triggering elements of OSNs (such as understanding information diffusion on OSNs or detecting automated behavior of accounts), these works have not been consolidated to present a comprehensive overview of the interconnections among these elements. Notably, user psychology, the prevalence of bots, and their tactics in relation to false information detection have been overlooked in previous research. To address this research gap, this paper synthesizes insights from various disciplines to provide a comprehensive analysis of the manipulation landscape. By integrating the primary elements of social media manipulation (SMM), including false information, bots, and malicious campaigns, we extensively examine each SMM element. Through a systematic investigation of prior research, we identify commonalities, highlight existing gaps, and extract valuable insights in the field. Our findings underscore the urgent need for interdisciplinary research to effectively combat social media manipulations, and our systematization can guide future research efforts and assist OSN providers in ensuring the safety and integrity of their platforms.