ENTRIES TAGGED "social data"
Data is the real business model for social
IBM's Marie Wallace on the unrealized potential of social data.
As social media websites gather ever-growing data stores, they might be better served by finding ways to make profitable use of that data instead serving ads as their chief means of raising revenue. While the data might give them the information they need to serve more targeted ads — although in my experience they still have a ways to go with that — the real value in the site could be the data itself.
Of course, if social sites start selling data to the highest bidder that leaves open questions of data ownership and privacy and finding ways to strip personal identifiers.
Marie Wallace (@marie_wallace) is social analytics strategist for the IBM Collaboration Solutions division. She has spent more than a decade at IBM working on content analytics, and her experience uniquely positions her to address questions regarding big data, social media and analytics. Our interview follows.
Social media’s real value might not be in selling ads, but in the data they are collecting. Why do you think that is?
Marie Wallace: The reason ad targeting has worked so well for search is because it’s aligned and supportive to that particular activity; when I am searching for information about products or services I am happy to get ads that may help direct my search. Ads are somewhat analogous to a value-added service and social search makes the ads more personalized and relevant, which is why Google has invested so heavily in Google+.
The key is that in most cases ads only work in a search-like context, however with most social media sites people are not going there to search. They are going to converse with friends and family, which makes ads interruptive and frequently invasive. This is further exacerbated by mobile, where limited real estate makes ads even more offensive as they are distracting and clutter the screen. Social search is one example of a service that sits on top of social data, but there are a whole plethora of other services that social data can drive — from market research to consumer/brand engagement, social recommenders, information filtering, or expertise location. Read more…
Strata Week: Machine learning vs domain expertise
Debating the data skills of machines and experts, a key data move for Microsoft, and Google Analytics gets social.
This week's data news includes another look at the Strata Conference's debate about machine learning versus subject matter expertise, Raghu Ramakrishnan moves from Yahoo to Microsoft, and more social data comes to Google Analytics.
Social network analysis isn’t just for social networks
Social network analysis (SNA) finds meaningful patterns in relationship data.
The scientific methodology of social network analysis (SNA) helps explain not just how people connect, but why they come together as well. Here, "Social Network Analysis for Startups" co-author Maksim Tsvetovat offers a primer on SNA.
Parsing a new Pew report: 3 ways the Internet is shaping healthcare
Key trends from the Pew Internet and Life Project's health information survey.
New research from the Pew Internet and Life Project sheds light on how online users are gathering and sharing health data. Here's a look at three important trends revealed in the survey.
With sentiment analysis, context always matters
Matthew Russell on the limitations and applications of sentiment analysis.
Though sentiment analysis is subjective, Matthew Russell says using transparent methods and keeping the data in context are keys to making it an effective tool.
Social data is an oracle waiting for a question
"Mining the Social Web" author Matthew Russell on the questions and answers social data can handle.
Matthew Russell, author of "Mining the Social Web" and a speaker at the Where 2.0 Conference, discusses the tools and the mindset that can unlock social data's utility.
