Social Media and Market Dynamics Lab
The Social Media and Market Dynamics Lab (SMMD Lab) at the Ed Snider Center
Social media has become a powerful force in shaping capital markets, influencing investor sentiment, trading behaviors, and market trends in ways previously unimaginable. Events like the GameStop short squeeze, the rise of meme stocks, and the impact of cryptocurrency movements fueled by platforms like Reddit, X, and TikTok underscore the profound and disruptive role of social media in capital markets. These phenomena, amplified by viral narratives—both authentic and maliciously generated—present unique opportunities and challenges for investors, regulators, and policymakers in a new age defined by information disorder.
The SMMD Lab in collaboration with the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), will research these phenomena and their influence on financial markets from their role in market volatility to their ability to drive collective action. NCRI is a globally recognized nonprofit specializing in detecting and analyzing emerging cyber-social threats. The Lab is aligned with the Ed Snider Center’s mission to create world-class inter-disciplinary research for an understanding of institutions promoting enterprise. SMMD Lab research will reach far beyond academic walls and make scholarly research relevant for business practitioners, and the public while providing experiential learning internships to students at UMD.
SMMD Lab Internships
Internships at the SMMD Lab provide hands-on experience in analyzing real-world social media data and its financial impacts and will equip students with practical skills in data analytics, trend forecasting, and narrative analysis, preparing them for careers in finance, data science, and other fields where such expertise is in high demand. While the lab's primary focus will be on social media, it will also explore the role of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, in amplifying and analyzing these trends. The internship program is open to current UMD undergraduate and graduate students from any level. Students must show a keen interest in research and academic exploration and have a minimum 3.0 GPA.
Application for Summer 2025 is now open
Questions about the SMMD Lab Student Internship experience? Email Ed Snider Center student programs coordinator Kristen Erdman, kerdman@umd.edu, and reference SMMD Lab Internship in the subject line of your email.
The SMMD Lab has been started with a generous seeding gift from Narravance. If you are interested in supporting the ongoing work of the SMMD Lab, please contact Ed Snider Center Managing Director Jacqueline Manger at jcmanger@umd.edu.
Affiliated Researchers and Lab Instructors
Joel Finkelstein
Affiliated Researcher
Dr. Joel Finkelstein is the co-founder and director of the Network Contagion Research Institute, where he leads efforts to expose and forecast the growing tide of hate and extremism on social media using advanced machine learning. A Princeton graduate with award-winning research on addiction, social behavior, and online threats, he also trains the next generation of experts in critical intelligence and social-cyber threat identification. His work has been featured on 60 Minutes, NPR, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.
Alex Goldenberg
Affiliated Researcher
Internship Experience Co-lead
Alex serves as the Director of Intelligence at Narravance and Senior Advisor at NCRI. He holds a Master's degree from New York University and is a fellow at Rutgers University, as well as an affiliate of the NYU Institute for the Study of Emerging Threats. His research has been featured in NBC News, The Atlantic, The Brookings Institution, NPR, Forbes, Vice News, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and other prominent media outlets. He has advised lawmakers, practitioners, and mainstream media on critical issues and has testified before Congress on multiple occasions.
Adam Wasserman
Affiliated Researcher
Internship Experience Co-Lead
Adam Wasserman holds a Bachelor’s degree in Pure Mathematics and a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics. He is a former Adjunct Professor of Mathematics at Berkeley College and Interboro Institute in New York City. Currently, he serves as the Fund Manager for Group 10 Holdings LLC.