The Social Media War. It's time for Ape Boot Camp.
So I am not sure this qualifies as DD. I do believe it takes on a HF tactic that is developing and that Apes have basically been put on the front burner for every HF.Â
As the name suggests, Hedge Funds try to hedge against every potentiality and probability. They have sophisticated algos and computer modeling running every known scenario.
Apes we are here today because we created an unpredictable scenario, one that HF were ill prepared and ill equipped to Hedge against.
You see all the articles about how much shorters have lost in just the last weeks? Billions. Â
Retail investors have become a very real threat as the internet has allowed us to share and educate one another so that every individual can make more informed decisions and share in the joys of our successful trades and commiserate in our failures.
We joke about interns being relegated to spending time on Reddit downvoting or creating accounts to shill. However, I think, as the threat of retail investors talking with one another became more real, that their response is much more sophisticated than that and I think I have some evidence to show just what we are up against and what HF’s will be employing in the future.
It started with something I thought was pretty silly. The many many many memes about buildings with lights on. I’ve been here, or there, through it all. I eagerly waited for drone footage only to be disappointed in, but very understanding of, the results. (where did he go?)
When the Internet was first taking off I was right there. I worked for [edited this out as identifying info] One of the things I loved doing was finding webcams and seeing what was going on around the world. This is before Google street view and it was pretty revolutionary that you could explore the world this way, at the time. I had amassed quite a list of cams (who remembers Jenny Cam!). Â That interest died off but as people were driving by buildings looking for lights it dawned on me that there are a few Chicago cams.
A quick search revealed that there are some great cams but also that one of them had a clear, albeit distant, view of Citadel tower. Â
So I posted about it and it gained some interest from apes. That post is here:Â https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/nlwr2f/live_citadel_building_for_those_who_like_looking/
During the day the cam moves a lot but at night it settles on the skyline and we could see Citadel tower and it was lit up pretty good last night (May 26th-27th)
​
Well I got to poking around Google maps and started wondering who else may be in Citadel Center and ended up going down this rabbit hole.
First, I think it is funny that Citadel Tower is across the street from the Federal building which contains the US Bankruptcy Court. Very convenient for Kenny.
I started looking into who else is in the building. It seems Citadel Center, or 131 S. Dearborn Street, has a rough history. It is a brick and mortar bag that nobody seems to want to be left holding. You can read about that history here and here. More confimraiton that the commercial real estate bubble is actively collapsing as you read this.Â
However, I was interested in another company that was expanding and using more space at Citadel Center. It recently doubled their square footage in the building.
That company is not a Hedge Fund. It is basically a modern day propaganda firm. AKA Social Media Management. It’s name is
S***P****R****0****U****T
****S*****0*****C****1***A*****L
Take away the asterisks- change numbers for letters...I’ll get to why I am hesitant to write out the name later.
They are on the seventh floor. Suite 700. Seems like it may be the seventh floor has been lit up a lot lately. EDIT: They began on the the 10th floor so likely they are still there. see edit below.
Hmmmmm…. Interesting…..a company dedicated to using social media to help their clients control the narrative about their company and products….right there in the same building as a Hedge Fund having a huge social media crisis.  Well hello neighbor!
​
https://i.redd.it/hmc7k1ptno171.gif
This company does much more than just help companies tweet better. They provide a tool, and people if you want, to scour the internet (they call this “Listening” and respond to any emerging trends surrounding their client’s products, brand, image. They are providing the software, and people if you want, so companies can do what is akin to High Frequency trading, only this market is trading buzz and sentiment.
It’s not all bad. They have a tool that is legitimately used by many companies to try and control their social media presence or to help Wendy’s throw shade when they need to.
They do not list Citadel, or any hedge fund as a client, but they do have a director of investor relations who wrote just one article for their blog and that article was about Gamestop. This written January 28, 2021. Hmmm…seems they had already done an extensive amount of research on this before it was really on most of the world’s radar. Almost as if someone had hired them to start looking into it....
So I got interested in this company and looked into its origins. It all seems innocuous enough. The power of social media has evolved beyond companies just needing one person or a small office trying to track and manage.
When you look into who owns interest in the company you find a familiar name:
Goldman is there, but owning slightly more than Goldman is Blackrock Inc. with 6%. Â
While not a controlling share it is pretty interesting considering Blackrock's (edited) shadowy connections with Citadel which has many posts.
So I have no definitive proof that Citadel, or any Hedge Funds, are employing this particular company to get control of the social media narrative behind stocks they hedge for or against but you can bet that they are not responding lightly to a movement which has cost them billions, thus far, and has the power to bankrupt them (well to cause them to bankrupt themselves, really)
We would be wise to be well educated in the tactics and tools they will use to try and control. It is not paranoia to think they are here, they are using a lot of money and know how to disrupt and divide, to sow doubt, to get a hedge against the narrative.
Keep these things in mind:
- They are always listening. Their software is loaded with key words. Write out the name of a stock or the name of a company and it gets highlighted and it’s added to an employee...whether an account manager, or “Social Media Marketing Professional” as seen in this confidential and urgent Indeed job posting: or this one
-
They will respond- Shills are real. The software allows them to manage multiple accounts, ie u/shill, and to downvote, comment or post. Karma requirements? No problem, buy accounts. Â
-
They are sophisticated and will go beyond listening and responding. Finding “influencers” and making offers. Not accusing anyone and don’t want to reopen wounds, but they 100% are making offers to people as has been documented.
Options:
- Post as usual and let them come, we are pretty good at identifying them.Â
- Try to avoid using what may be key words that their listening software will pick up. Don’t use actual company names or stock names. Limit their ability to find and respond to posts. This is why I have not spelled out the company’s name - though I think they will be alerted to this anyway.Â
- Create alternative areas to chat. I have appreciated the sane discussions over at u/dreadfulol’s livestream. It’s a chill vibe and have been able to bond with several apes. Multiple smaller groups is the way. Don’t abandon u/Superstonk but be sure you have a community of diamond handed apes that you can chill with to get away from the war.Â
That’s all I will write for now. I’m going to keep researching this as I think they are currently pouring money into this and that the social media market will be even more manipulated than it already is.
I know other apes will also look into this and maybe find even more DD. I do think this is DD and that the social media market is just as important to study as the corrupted and fraudulent markets we have all become aware of thanks to u/Atobitt and TOC 1, 2 and 3, as well as all the other brilliant DD out there.
However, if DD needs to be limited to just the money market then I understand if mods need to switch up the flair.
EDIT: mis-numbering occurred, corrected.
EDIT: When SS moved into Citadel Center they did not lease from the building's management. It was a sub-lease of, yup, Citadel's space.
"The firm is subleasing the 10th floor through 2017 in the 1.5 million-square-foot building at 131 S. Dearborn St. from hedge fund manager Citadel Investment Group LLC, Mr. Howard said"
Sounds like they got a pretty sweet deal...
"The sublease was structured so that Sprout can gradually grow into the full floor without paying rent on all of it initially, said Brad Serot, a CBRE Inc. senior vice president who represented the firm along with CBRE First Vice President Paul Reaumond.
CBRE Vice Chairman Todd Lippman, who represented Citadel, could not be reached, and a Citadel spokeswoman declined to comment."
Renewed and Expanded in 2018: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20180403/CRED03/180409977/loop-office-tower-continues-leasing-momentum-with-sprout-social-citadel-deals
EDIT but seriously Sprout Social does look like a cool place to work. I live on La Croix! ...as long as you don't get assigned to Citadel's account.
EDIT: TDLR Citadel Center SUBLEASES to SproutSocial, a social media management company, which doubled it's space recently, wrote a piece about GME, and which Blackrock and Goldman both own over 5 % stock in. The gist is that Apes costs HF BILLIONS and they are and will continue to deploy heavy artillery at controlling the social media narrative. Apes have to be smart Apes and not naive little monkeys.
Posted May 27, 2021, 3:46 PM UTC · edited