Lecture on abuse of social media by stock manipulators

I recently had the honor of lecturing a group of business students at the University of Texas, on the topic of abuse of social media by stock manipulators. I’ve merged the recording of the lecture with my slide presentation and make it available for you here.

Piling absurdity upon absurdity

As any engineer will attest, the key to an enduring structure is a solid foundation. Builders who choose not to worry about foundation issues will deliver a product that’s worthless at best, and a dangerous liability at worst.
Likewise, arguments crafted without a foundation amount to something ranging from worthless to dangerous.
In both cases, the motives [...]

The root of the problem, Part Four

Preface and editor’s note: As stated previously, AntiSocialMedia.net has issues with Gary Weiss, not his wife.
As is happens, one of the more startling examples of abuse of social media we’ve discovered anywhere – and the central theme of this, the fourth and final part of this series on the history of Gary Weiss’s pathology – [...]

The root of the problem: Part Three

Preface and editor’s note: AntiSocialMedia.net has issues with Gary Weiss, not his wife.
As is happens, one of the more startling examples of abuse of social media we’ve discovered anywhere – and the central theme of this, the third part of this series on Gary Weiss – cannot be told without making reference to that relationship.
However, [...]

The root of the problem: Part Two

Let’s start by re-stating three key facts as established in Part One.

In June of 1995, Gary Weiss told the world that his personal email address was garywbw@aol.com.
Gary would go on to use that account to identify himself when posting on Usenet newsgroups [...]

The root of the problem: Part One

When attempting to understand the nature of a specific pathology, it’s wise to seek information about its origins in the context of the subject’s history.
This is the first of a four part series on the origins of the pathology apparently afflicting our subject, Gary Weiss. This pathology is manifest as a compulsion to invent false [...]