#bigpredictions

‘Big Data’, sounds like something technical and boring to most people, but what they aren’t acknowledging is the big affect it actually has. “Whenever you click on a website, whenever you make a purchase, whenever a light switch is turned on and off, it’s generating a piece of data” (The Economist, 2012). All this data is the reason why all the advertisements, youtube video and facebook page suggestions you come across online are all in your interest; because big data assesses what you like and makes sure you’re continually engaged with it.

  Image sourced from: http://blog.joelrubinson.net/2014/04/big-data-big-research-possibilities-emerge-at-arf-conference-2014/

Today I clicked onto an ad that was of my interest suggested to me through email. It was a deal on OurDeal and as I was reading more information on it, there was a pop up to say “Someone purchased this one hour ago in Bracken Ridge.” I didn’t really understand why they’d think I’d care, but it was interesting to see how someone’s activity near my location was shared with me. This made me recognise how clever big data is, and the potential it has to take control.

  The knowledge big data generates is so informational, that it is often being used to predict answers. Predicting answers and information is a golden tool for companies. They can predict how people consume, think and do things, which pretty much hands over the answers for companies and their marketing schemes. The prediction can sometimes be so detailed they can literally discover how to best influence you to buy more (Sieger, 2013). Big data isn’t just predicting answers to people’s actions however, but answers to many wonders. For example, Australian energy company Energex was able to predict the best location to build its’ power grid. Another platform the use of prediction through big data is very popular is on television.

  Various television shows, particularly reality series, often engage with their audiences through social media. Shows such as Big Brother, X-factor, The Voice and My Kitchen rules encourage their audiences to engage with the show through the social media platform, Twitter. An example of how to measure TEI (Twitter Excitement Index) of a show was done by Woodford, Prowd and Burns (2014), through the premiere episode of My Kitchen Rules. Lasting 115 minutes and gaining over 150 tweets per minute that used the hash-tags and/or account names and with the use of algorithms, a TEI of 1.09 was made. Not only is the amount of audience engagement intriguing, but also what the companies can do with all this information. As researchers are capable of observing and analyzing exactly what users are saying, they can then use this information to make the show exactly how the audiences want it.

  To sum up, big data is a big deal that most people aren’t acknowledging. It’s able to predict such powerful strategies, especially for companies in need of a marketing tool. Overall, big data is always somewhat following you, whether it be suggesting sites in your interest online, or eliminating the guy you don’t like on My Kitchen Rules.

References:

  Siegel, Eric. 2013. “Introduction – The Prediction Effect.” In Predictive Analytics, 1-16. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons Inc. Accessed May 10, 2014. (Available on CMD)

  The Economist. 2012. The Dark Side of Big Data. Accessed May 10, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raJOkguPrH4