When likes and shares can be monetized, it is perhaps not surprising to find out that these digital affirmations can, and are, being manipulated. In a paper published in the proceedings of the World Wide Web conference in April, NYU Tandon professors Damon McCoy and Rachel Greenstadt, along with collaborators from Drexel University, presented the first analysis of a robust underground ecosystem of “pods.” Pods are groups of users that “manipulate curation algorithms and artificially boost content popularity,” by having “each member reciprocally interact with content posted by other members of the group.” To learn more about this research, read the TechCrunch article from April 29.