Cas van Bree

5/5 (1)

Currently I work part-time at a company called Meltwater. Meltwater is a SaaS company that allows the clients to identify real time opportunities and threats using AI, media monitoring, social media management and influencer management. I believe the (social) media monitoring is where the real unique value of Meltwater lies. Using the software is pretty straightforward while the backside can be more complicated.

Using crawlers Meltwater is able to locate a large amount of articles and sources, resulting in a database 20x as large as Google’s database. A client is then able to create a specific search using Boolean queries. By placing these searches in a widget they are able to view the historical and real time online media (news articles, forums, blogs) and social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) data. The data is enriched through API’s, adding reach, add value equivalency (AVE), sentiment data and more.

Besides using the dashboards in which the widgets reside, clients can choose to receive a monthly/quarterly/yearly report. This is where my role comes into play. Together with some colleagues I’m responsible for using the back-office online media and social media data to create insights not achieved with the widgets. This is done using analytical tools and adding qualitative information, such as explanations why a peak in exposure or reach occurs during a certain period. For example, look at the image displayed below. I’ve created a search and dashboard for Apple with four widgets. Why do you think there’s a peak on the 12^th of September? And what about the small peak on the 21^st of September?

Example2

Dependent on the client a variety of insights will be given. While pharmaceutical companies would be much more concerned with sentiment of the reviews of their products, technology companies are often more concerned with the developments of their competitors in their field.

The real challenge in this job lies in the different type of insights clients need dependent on their goals and the industry they are in. In the end we only provide the necessary insights, since the actions taken using these insights are made by the clients themselves.

Since this forum is used by BIM students and thoughtful comments can be expected I ask you this: How can a company use these insights to create actions? In which industries would a product like this be very effective? For which industries do you think it wouldn’t?

5/5 (2)

With the help of platforms such as Facebook and Instagram we are migrating our social world to that of cyber space. Expressing your opinion, bullying and even dating is often done online. With this in mind, the moral qualities we have become accustomed to in the real world are now developing differently behind these platforms.

In the past people were much more isolated, which was an essential aspect of the way norms and values were formed. If you had a conflicting opinion you would be corrected by your surroundings. The digital world has evident qualities, which create a “moral fog”. For this reason, people are becoming more anonymous; we find it easier to express our opinion, in turn making it easier to find people who agree with your opinion. This strengthens the stigmergy, a term used to describe how subsequent actions tend to reinforce and build on each other, leading to the spontaneous emergence of coherent, apparently systematic activity. It’s a form of a self-organizing social network, as a result has the potential of leading to extreme groups.

Anonymity has also created a larger platform for (cyber-) bullying. There are various forms of online bullying; for example, an “internet troll” who creates a website to help people with epilepsy, only to create it in such a way which causes epileptic people to get an epileptic attack. How is it possible that conscious people, capable enough to build a website like this, do things like this?

Of course, there are positive aspects of anonymity; it provides safety to the individual and gives people freedom of expression without experiencing the direct consequences, as no one knows who the individual is. Regardless, where do we set the bar when talking about freedom of expression? Facebook is known to sometimes delete certain groups or posts based on their subject. Which topics should, and shouldn’t we allow on a social platform?

How can we form the online world in such a way with the knowledge we have?

Anonymity and Ethics in The Digital World

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