# Author Analysis

## Overview

The **Authors** page is your dedicated workspace for exploring and analyzing the social media accounts that are active within your project's dataset. Whether you are investigating bot-like behavior, profiling cohort membership, or identifying the most engaged voices in a narrative, this page provides the author-level granularity you need.

"Authors" refers to any unique account handle ingested into your project — across social media platforms — displayed in a unified, filterable table view.

### What You Can Do

* **Monitor** high-level author metrics at a glance using the top-level Stats Bar
* **Explore** author data across your project with a sortable, customizable data grid
* **Search** for specific authors by handle using the inline search bar
* **Filter** the dataset using the Segment Bar's boolean search and filter capabilities
* **Customize** your view by adding, removing, and reordering columns to suit your workflow
* **Investigate** cohort membership in detail by expanding the full cohorts list for any author
* **Identify** bot-like accounts using dedicated risk signal columns


## Navigating to the Authors Page

1. Open your project in Constellation
2. From the left navigation menu, select **Authors**
3. The page will load with your project's author data, applying any active Segment Bar filters


## Page Layout

The Authors page is organized into two main sections:

1. **Stats Bar** — High-level metrics summarizing the currently filtered author dataset
2. **Authors Table** — A searchable, sortable, and customizable grid of individual author records


## Stats Bar

At the top of the page, the Stats Bar provides an at-a-glance summary of the authors currently displayed. All metrics update dynamically as you apply or remove filters via the Segment Bar.

### Available Metrics

| Metric | Description |
|  --- | --- |
| **Authors** | Total number of unique author handles currently displayed based on active filters |
| **Posts** | Total number of posts associated with the displayed authors |
| **Engagements** | Aggregated engagement across all posts for the displayed authors (excludes news sources) |
| **Top Cohorts** | Up to 3 cohorts ranked by unique author count within the filtered dataset |
| **Bot-like Authors** | Total count of authors flagged as bot-like within the current results |


**Pro Tip:** Use the Stats Bar as a quick sanity check after applying filters — these numbers reflect exactly what is in your current view, not the full project dataset.

## Authors Table

The Authors Table is the core of the Authors page. It displays individual author records in a structured, sortable, and customizable grid.

### Searching for Authors

A search bar is located above the table. Enter any partial or full author handle to filter the table to matching results. The search performs a "contains" match — any author handle that includes your search term will be returned.

### Default Columns

Out of the box, the following columns are visible:

| Column | Description |
|  --- | --- |
| **Author** | The handle or display name of the author, along with their platform icon |
| **Engagements** | Total engagement count across all of the author's posts in the project |
| **Posts** | Total number of posts contributed by this author within the project |
| **Cohorts** | Cohort classifications assigned to the author. Up to 3 cohorts are displayed inline; click **+N more** to view the complete list |
| **Platform** | The social media platform associated with the author's account |
| **Bot-like** | Indicates whether the author's account has been flagged as exhibiting bot-like behavior |
| **Profile Location** | The location listed on the author's social media profile (stated location) |
| **Detected Location** | The location inferred from the author's activity and signals |


### All Available Columns

The following columns can be added to the Authors Table via the **Column Selector**:

| Column | Description |
|  --- | --- |
| **Author** | Author handle and platform icon |
| **Engagements** | Total engagement count for the author within the project |
| **Posts** | Total post count for the author within the project |
| **Cohorts** | Author cohort classifications |
| **Platform** | Source social media platform |
| **Bot-like** | Risk signal flag for bot-like account behavior |
| **Anomalous** | Risk signal flag for anomalous amplification or behavioral patterns |
| **Toxic** | Risk signal flag for toxic or harmful language in the author's posts |
| **Profile Location** | Location listed on the author's social media profile |
| **Detected Location** | Location inferred from the author's activity and signals |


### Adding and Removing Columns

**To add or remove columns:**

1. Click the **Columns** button located in the top-right area of the Authors Table
2. A panel will appear listing all available columns with checkboxes
3. Check or uncheck columns to show or hide them


**To reorder columns:**

1. Click and drag any column header to a new position in the table


> **Note:** Column configurations are not persisted across sessions. You will need to reconfigure your column layout each time you return to the Authors page.


### Sorting

Click any column header to sort the table by that column in ascending order. Click the same header again to toggle to descending order. Sorting is available on all visible columns.

### Viewing All Cohorts for an Author

When an author belongs to more than 3 cohorts, the **Cohorts** column displays the first 3 along with a **+N more** link.

**To view the full cohort list:**

1. Click the **+N more** link in the Cohorts column for the relevant author
2. A modal will open displaying all cohorts associated with that author, sorted alphabetically


## Filtering Authors with the Segment Bar

The **Segment Bar** at the top of the page is a powerful tool for narrowing the author data displayed in the table. All filtering occurs in real time — the Stats Bar and the Authors Table update immediately as you apply filters.

### Search

Use the query field to search using boolean operators:

| Operator | Purpose | Example |
|  --- | --- | --- |
| **AND** | Both terms must appear | `misinformation AND election` |
| **OR** | Either term can appear | `vaccine OR vax` |
| **NOT** | Exclude a term | `climate NOT hoax` |
| **"quotes"** | Exact phrase match | `"coordinated inauthentic behavior"` |
| **(parentheses)** | Group conditions | `(bot OR automated) AND risk` |


**Important:** Boolean operators must be typed in **UPPERCASE** to be recognized.

### Available Filters

* **Date Range** — Limit the dataset to a specific time window using presets or a custom range
* **Platform** — Filter by one or more social media platforms
* **Risk Signals** — Filter for authors flagged as Bot-like, Toxic, or Anomalous
* **Cohorts** — Filter by one or more author cohort classifications
* **Additional Filters** — Depending on your project configuration, additional filters such as engagement ranges or entity filters may be available


### Saving and Reusing Filters

You can save your current filter combination as a **Segment** for quick reuse in future sessions. See the Segment Bar User Guide for full details.

## Tips & Best Practices

### For Efficient Analysis

* **Start with the Stats Bar** — Review the high-level author, post, and engagement counts before diving into individual rows to confirm your filters are scoped correctly
* **Use Risk Signal columns together** — Add Bot-like, Toxic, and Anomalous columns simultaneously to quickly triage accounts of interest during threat investigations
* **Save effective filter combinations** — When you find a filter set that surfaces relevant authors, save it as a Segment for fast retrieval in future sessions


### For Column Management

* **Add both location columns for geographic analysis** — Profile Location and Detected Location together give you a more complete picture than either alone
* **Focus your view** — Remove columns you do not need for a given workflow to reduce visual noise and keep the table scannable


### For Large Datasets

* **Filter first** — Use the Segment Bar to narrow your dataset before analyzing individual author rows; this keeps the table performant and results focused
* **Sort by risk signal columns** — Sorting by Bot-like or Anomalous flags quickly surfaces the highest-priority accounts for review


## Troubleshooting

### "No authors are showing"

* Check your active Segment Bar filters — they may be too restrictive or applied to a field with no matching data
* Verify that your date range includes the expected time window
* Confirm the correct project is selected in the project selector


### "The Bot-like column is empty for some authors"

* The Bot-like flag is only set for accounts that have been evaluated and flagged by Blackbird AI's detection models — not all authors will have this signal present


### "The Cohorts column is empty for some authors"

* Cohort classifications are assigned based on project-specific configurations — an empty Cohorts field means the author has not been assigned to any cohort within your current project


### "Profile Location or Detected Location is blank"

* Profile Location is sourced directly from the author's social media profile and may be blank if the author has not provided a location
* Detected Location requires Actor Intelligence — if your organization does not have access to the Actor Intelligence add-on, these fields will not be populated


## Summary

The Authors page gives analysts a focused, filter-aware view of every account active in their project dataset:

* **Stats Bar** for instant, filter-responsive metrics including author count, engagement, top cohorts, and bot-like author totals
* **Authors Table** for a fully sortable, customizable grid with columns spanning account details, engagement, cohort membership, and risk signals
* **Segment Bar** for powerful boolean search and multi-dimensional filtering across the full author dataset