Shepherd, a cutting-edge tool to detect bots on social media platforms, was born from an effort by Yanning Tan, an M.S. in Strategic Communication student, to combat disinformation in the digital age.
Last September, the Brown Institute for Media Innovation at Columbia University, in partnership with Media Party, hosted the Conference and Hackathon on Journalism, AI and the Election, where journalists, designers, tech experts, and entrepreneurs gathered to explore AI as a subject of journalism, its impact on the 2024 election, and the use of AI tools to improve reporting. The three-day conference included keynote speakers, discussions, and hands-on workshops designed to foster discussion around the role and possibilities of AI in journalism. The weekend concluded with a hackathon, with $2,500 in prizes awarded by the International Center for Journalists.
Inspired by one of the conference prompts calling on contestants to build better democracies, Tan, along with her team, created a tool to identify bot behavior online and stem the spread of false information. At the Media Party event held in Columbia’s Pulitzer Hall, Tan pitched her idea and won the hackathon with a prototype of Shepherd, built in just three hours.
The prototype’s success provided a foundation for further development and inspired the team to pitch the idea for the School of Professional Studies (SPS) Career Design Lab’s Greater Good Challenge. Drawing on the experience and insights from these opportunities, the team is continuing to advance Shepherd toward greater impact and scalability.
The Inspiration and Invention
During their brainstorming process, Tan’s team, which included a software developer, influencer marketer, VR expert, and the CEO of a creative agency in Argentina, identified several areas where democratic systems were destabilizing. They identified online polarization and the role of bots in spreading misinformation and disinformation as a key factor in this global problem.
“Bots were used in a cycle to reiterate certain views that people already had, especially extremist or divisive views,” Tan said.
After examining the issue, the team developed Shepherd, a Chrome browser extension designed to identify key signs of bot activity by analyzing an account’s history, comments, behaviors, and profile picture. It reviews details like typos, post frequency, and even the formulation of usernames to distinguish between suspicious activity and authentic human behavior.
“The prompt will then return a percentage rating, which is not a black and white rating,” Tan said. “It's most likely going to be somewhere in between, but Shepherd is just a tool that helps people to make better decisions of who to trust and what information is legitimate.”
The innovative idea and successful execution won Tan’s team first place at the hackathon. Using the prize money, she continued to develop the tool and refine the prototype as much as possible.
Advancing the Idea Through the Greater Good Challenge
Invigorated by the hackathon win, Tan rallied her team and applied to be a competitor in the Columbia SPS Greater Good Challenge in December 2024.
The Greater Good Challenge, an annual competition organized by the SPS Career Design Lab with support from the Beba Foundation, invites students and alumni from around the world to submit proposals pitching innovative business solutions that address current global and societal needs. Participants team up and work with a coach to refine their ideas and prepare their formal pitches before presenting to a panel of judges in a live event.
With support and guidance from Shahryar Shaghaghi, the team’s coach and director of the M.S. in Technology Management program at SPS, Tan’s team developed Shepherd into a market-viable product. They came up with marketing strategies, developed scalability scenarios, and determined how to monetize the platform. Within a matter of weeks, Shepherd shifted from a creative hackathon project to a market-ready concept.
After several rounds of competition and months of hard work, Tan’s team took home the Greater Good Challenge’s first-place prize. They are now using the money to register their business and continue to improve the product.
Academic Experience Meets Entrepreneurship at SPS
Tan credits SPS for helping get her project off the ground, not only by providing support and opportunities like the hackathon and the Greater Good Challenge, but also through her academic experience in the M.S. in Strategic Communication program. She says the faculty, class projects, and courses helped prepare her for this new venture.
“I found that the Compelling Communicator course has been super helpful,” she said. “It aligned so perfectly with the timeline of the Greater Good Challenge as well, because essentially what we were learning was how to put together a compelling pitch.”
To prospective Columbia students with a similar entrepreneurial spirit, Tan says: “You're in the right place. Columbia has so many opportunities everywhere, it's hard for you to not succeed.”
About the Program
Columbia University's M.S. in Strategic Communication program empowers current and aspiring leaders to shape the future through strategic communication. It is designed to respond to the urgent need for global perspectives, critical thinking, and ethical decision-making at all levels of organization. The interdisciplinary curriculum emphasizes audience-centered strategy and digital competency. Distinguished scholar-practitioner faculty bring real-world experience into the classroom and provide a learning experience that is immediately relevant in the workplace.
The program is available full-time on campus or part-time online with residencies. The part-time format is ideal for experienced full-time professionals based in or outside the New York metropolitan area. Learn more about the program here.
