Y Social: an LLM-powered Social Media Digital Twin

TL;DR

Y Social is a digital twin of social media platforms powered by Large Language Models, enabling detailed simulation and analysis of online interactions, content spread, and user behavior for research purposes.

Contribution

The paper introduces Y, a novel LLM-powered digital twin for social media, allowing realistic simulation and analysis of complex online social phenomena.

Findings

Y enables simulation of user interactions and content dissemination.

Y provides insights into online engagement and information spread.

Y facilitates multidisciplinary research on social media dynamics.

Abstract

In this paper we introduce Y, a new-generation digital twin designed to replicate an online social media platform. Digital twins are virtual replicas of physical systems that allow for advanced analyses and experimentation. In the case of social media, a digital twin such as Y provides a powerful tool for researchers to simulate and understand complex online interactions. {\tt Y} leverages state-of-the-art Large Language Models (LLMs) to replicate sophisticated agent behaviors, enabling accurate simulations of user interactions, content dissemination, and network dynamics. By integrating these aspects, Y offers valuable insights into user engagement, information spread, and the impact of platform policies. Moreover, the integration of LLMs allows Y to generate nuanced textual content and predict user responses, facilitating the study of emergent phenomena in online environments. To better characterize the proposed digital twin, in this paper we describe the rationale behind its implementation, provide examples of the analyses that can be performed on the data it enables to be generated, and discuss its relevance for multidisciplinary research.