Finfluencers, Kakhbod, A., Kazempour, S. M., Livdan, D., & Schuerhoff, N. (2023)

Paper: Kakhbod, A., Kazempour, S. M., Livdan, D., & Schuerhoff, N. (2023). Finfluencers. Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper No. 23-30.
Link: Available at SSRN

The first rigorous academic study on financial influencers. Researchers analyzed over 400,000 social media posts to understand their market impact.

Key findings: The paper's most striking discovery is that 56.5% of finfluencers are "antiskilled" (their advice leads to negative returns), while only 27.5% are actually skilled. Even more concerning: the antiskilled finfluencers often have larger followings, creating an "amplified harm" effect where bad advice gets the widest reach.

I explored the implications of these findings in my Finfluencer Mirage post, particularly how this creates an "amplified harm" effect where the worst advice gets the most reach. The paper's data shows that following the loudest voices often leads to the worst outcomes - a critical insight for anyone consuming financial content online.

Essential reading for anyone trying to understand the finfluencer landscape.