Data on the Internet and Telling the Future!

I just read on the BBC that scientists have conducted a study to look at search terms to see if a correlation can be made between search terms and a specific outcome.

It’s not as mysterious as it sounds; they were looking at names of films, music and computer games to see if there was a way to understand what we are searching for and the likelihood of that film, song or game to be a success.

Data

What I find interesting to think about is the gargantuan amount of data that a study like this must have sifted through; then I move on to think about what this kind of data could be used for…

Worrying

I’ve not seen the study and wouldn’t compare in any way the 5 mins I’ve been thinking about this with the preparation that must have gone into the study – but what I’m left thinking about is what if ‘they’ could use this kind of information to show me what they think I want to see?

I may have searched for ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife’ but that doesn’t make me a holocaustic fantasising, ultra violent person… I really don’t want that to affect future searches for plumbers, accountants or what to do this weekend…

Trending

It annoys me that I can search for one thing and get presented info on anything but; so I’m all for cleverer computers (or search engines).

But I think there should be a realistic look at the internet, I’m conflicted in that it should widen my intellectual horizons and influences but the reality is that I’m not likely to get genuinely new thoughts as the data presented to me is already filtered by where I am in the world – it’s already the case that what I read or have access to is already filtered.

This research is interesting and definitely thought provoking but I’d be happy if it found little or no commercial ‘home’.

Here is the article on the BBC.