FacebookandBigDataProf.LewisFriedlandJ201April26,2016

Today

• 1)Facebookanddata

• 2)Growthofmultisidedmarketplaces

• 3)PowerLaws

• 4)Wheretogo?

Facebook

• Gigantic company; ~$17.93 bnannual revenue

• Whatdoesitsell?It sellsyou.• Yourlives, yourrelationships, yourphotos,yourinterests,your…• Yourtimeand attention• Theultimate individual-level datarepository

Where thedatacomes from

• Whatwe tell Facebook– Interests, Pages we like, our gender, age,what wepost about

• Whatourfriends tell Facebook• WhatFacebook gathersabout usdirectly–Whenwelog in, from where,what kind ofdevice

• WhatFacebook gathersaswe surf theweb– Using “trackers” or cookies

• WhatFacebook knows aboutyou

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJvAUqs3 Ofg

• http://www.businessinsider.com/what-facebook-knows-about-you-2012-9?op=1

AndFacebookisnotalone…• Ongoingarmsrace to learnmoreabout us…

…and deliver experiencesthat onlineplatformsthinkwe willlikemore……sowewill spendmore time andattention……and be available toadvertisers

• Socialmedia• News (Google News)• Email• Search engines• And more

NewStrategyforSocialMedia

• Audiencesnowdon’thavetoleavesocialmediaatall.• Facebookhostsarticlescreatedbyoutsidepublishers,videos,livebroadcasts.• Snapchat,onlinemediainminiature• Riseof“multisidedmarketplaces.”• Publicationsasmulti-sidedmarketplaces:readers,advertisers,writers.• Facebook:foursidedmarketplace:users,advertisers,third-partyapplicationdevelopersandusersofFacebookConnect.

WhereDoMediaFitIn?

• 5th side:premiumcontentproviders.• Havetoplay:nochoice.• Loweringofswitchingcostsforadvertisers.• Whathappenswhenmediaproviders”join”theFBplatform?

PlatformsCommoditize

• Theymakeitveryeasyforthebesttorisetothetop.• Makeitverydifficultforanyonewhoisnotbest(orcheapest).• Winner-takealleconomy.• ApplicationofPowerlawstocontent.• Platformsforcespecialization.

“Wealth, also known as net worth, is defined as the total value of everything someone owns minus any debt that he or she owes. A person's net worth includes his or her bank account savings plus the value of other things such as property, stocks, bonds, art, collections, etc., minus the value of things like loans and mortgages.”

Example:WealthDistribution

https://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/VBVl6kfgqehyvYj

https://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/XqhT9808qK9B94C

MichaelNorton,HarvardBusSchoolDanAriely,Duke

PowerLawDistributionsor80/20Rules

Isthis agood thing?

• Well,it surecanbeconvenient• Canfindwhateveryouwant• Canconnecttomanymanypeople• AndFacebook offersaremarkableservicethatpeople want

But…

• Arepowerlawdistributionsofwealthandinformationgoodforsociety?

• Asinformationbecomesmoreessentialtoeveryone–jobs,education,lifechances–howdopowerlawseffectthem?

• Howshouldwe feel aboutsomuch information sitting inFB’sservers?

• Are we losing some ofthe randomnessand serendipitywe need in adiversesociety?

Eli Pariser, The FilterBubble

Politics

• Bigdatais reinventinghow political campaignsoperate

• Keyinnovations:• (1)datamerging• (2)cultureoftesting• (3) nano-targeting

Datamerging

• Often thereisvery useful dataonpeople, butit’snotin thesameplace

• So, merge itß hard but effective• Especially:– Data from voterrolls– Consumer data

• Whatdoes this tell you?

Testing(“A/BTesting”)• Used tobe very hard toknowwhatmessagesworked

• Now, instant data• Sanders wants to raise money, sendsanemailto 2million supporters

• Sends 4differentversions, sees which onegets thebestresponse

• Uses that oneon futureappeals…

Nanotargeting

• Narrowcastingtothenextlevel• Usefine-grained individual-level dataandcommunicationmedia to reach individuals(e.g.,email, social media, direct mail)

• Predict their positions onkeyissues• Usetesting todeterminewhat appeals mostlikely to succeed

Example

• You’re TedCruztrying towinWisconsin• Avoter in Superior who fits aprofileofbeing ahunter and a union member

• à Targetthis person with 2nd amendmentmessages, NEVERmention economic policy

• Avoter in Waukeshawhomaybe fiscallyconservativeand sociallyliberal

• à Send anti-taxmessages, NEVERmentionabortion, gayrights, etc.

Concerns

• Whatdoes this dotoour sense ofbeing a• nation?• Isthereany“national conversation”ifwe each• are receiving differentmessages?• Isthereanychance we can come together on• whatis mostimportant?

Atthesametime…• Some of the innovationsmaybespurringmore face-to-face, grassroots participation

• Connected userstoevents,phonenumbers,addresses…

Sowhatshould youdo?

• Don’tbeafraid ofdata• Badatmath?Don’t worry about it• Still, getsome basicskills• Takesomestatistics• Learn somesimple programming: python, R• Learn about researchmethods• Learn about datavisualization• Read

Somesources…• Sasha Issenberg, The Victory Lab (2012)• NateSilver, TheSignal and theNoise (2012)• Eli Pariser,TheFilter Bubble (2010)• Daniel Kreiss,Taking Our Country Back (2012)• James Gleick, TheInformation (2011)

OnFacebook

• http://www.businessinsider.com/what-facebook-knows-about-you-2012-9?op=1

• http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-to-stop-facebook-from