The Social Data Revolution
In 2009, the Harvard Business Review reported that more data would be generated by individuals in that year alone than in the entire previous history of mankind through 2008.
Shared content has grown 9 times since then, and in tech years (like dog years, but with a complicated algorithm) 2009 seems like a very long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
In addition to the growth in bits and bites, the power of social data was demonstrated with the unprecedented events of the Arab Spring. Even the term Big Data has cemented a place in our vocabulary - and our glossaries: the Oxford English Dictionary added the term in 2013, breaking its own rule that new words must remain in use for 10 years to be included in that definitive tome.
From the epic to the quotidian, social data shapes the way we relate to the world (who would make a reservation at a restaurant with a one star rating on Yelp?), and increasingly informs the way we understand it.
Sixty-seven percent of Internet users (2.5 billion people) are on social networks. We’ve seen that social data has implications beyond instantaneous announcements of the royal baby’s name. The queen tweets, the pope tweets - so what? If social media can help organize a revolution, what other possibilities exist within the mountains of data out there?
The United Nations is asking the same questions – formally. Global Pulse, an initiative launched by the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General, seeks to explore how digital data sources and real-time analytics technologies can help policymakers understand human well-being and emerging vulnerabilities in real-time, in order to better protect and respond to populations.
In a recent blog post on 2015 millennium development goals, Global Pulse noted the relevance of tweets to shaping future policy agendas. They are running an analysis of Twitter keyword searches, structured around 16 priority development issues, in an effort to understand which topics are discussed most by the online global public. The graph below shows that “better job opportunities” (the pink line), and “a good education” (the teal line) are the most discussed topics on the list, so far:
Welcome to the Social Revolution: The Future is Now
Examples like the above underline the global reach and potential of social data. If tweets can influence the UN’s millennium development goals, can it be used to help predict epidemics and prepare for droughts or other natural disasters?
We have entered the age of information. Social data can help change how people access information. If we dream it, there are more tools than ever to realize that dream.
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