How Social Media and Big Data will Unleash What We Know

Social media is getting bigger and bigger to the point that today, it will provide more information in days than what the entire world had mere decades ago. Understanding it and figuring out how to use it for your business is essential and, as the workload increases, it will require newer and newer technological advances and ideas.

As the data scientist consultants from ActiveWizards explain, following the growth of social media is of great value to those who are willing to learn and use social networks to get financial gain. However, this is no secret and the competition is ever improving, so the one with the best understanding and adaptability will most likely be the one to get ahead.

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Every year, the developers have to put in extra hours to advance their technology in order to get insight and context from interactions happening on social media websites. The reason is simple; there are millions upon millions of conversations happening daily out in the open. Every time someone comments, shares, replies to a comment, or even likes something online, they actually create the conditions needed for a conversation thread to start, and that means data that can be used to improve your services or; at least, to improve on your sales tactics. Of course, social media brings up a whole new slew of questions regarding the privacy and legality of using data acquired this way, but the fact is that most of these conversations take place in the open and not in private messages.

Now, a person is simply not capable of analyzing the information that is put in; the language that is used is natural, the sentences are not always (if ever) properly constructed, and the amount of information is insurmountable for any mortal. So, the actual use of this information requires technologies that are still being developed. That technology does not only need to be powerful enough to handle the size, complexity, and speed of the input, it also needs to do that in a way that is cost effective.

The intriguing part of the entire story about online comments is that they are permanent. Whatever someone writes down without even thinking about it is stored for what is possibly an eternity. This is valuable information because not only does it make it possible to investigate the market and get precise statistical information, but it will also allow for historical tracking of trends.

This is where big data steps in. It provides new ways of approaching this issue and it is showing promise in regards to being able to adapt to the incredible growth of social media. Another big issue today is trying to follow the trends and, when that does not work as well as intended, trying to get ahead of them. In order to be really successful, you need to know what will happen before it does and, in order to do that, you must first know what to ask for. Big data actually helps with that as well. Some tools are actually smart enough to recognize these patterns and offer knowledge you might need before you even realize it.

Nevertheless, big data still needs to grow and these are the things it is likely to develop:

1. Apps that plug directly into social networks for both the consumer and enterprises alike.

Big data is the only thing, well, big enough to actually approach this information as it is happening. More and more social networks include third-party software to be used as analytic programs. What big data offers is the possibility of getting a full report of queries, trends, and insights that would help you improve your business.

2. Interconnections

The Internet is probably the main method of communication in the twenty-first century. This means that now, almost every subject around actually has a public forum for it to be discussed. This will lead to more and more connections between consumers and enterprises. If a company is to succeed in the future, it should include the capabilities to follow both of these.

3. Spying concerns

Even now, a lot of consumers online are worried about big companies and governments spying on them and illegally acquiring information regarding their behavior. It is rather important to be able to put those worries at ease and grow your work without the brand of being the “Big Brother” for your clients.