More meta data means more targeted communications
Our words are like actions, they define us. As I contribute to our new information economy, I am leaving a traceable history of words, thoughts, and actions that are being mined to determine the type of person that I am. When I use a search engine, not only are results returned to me based on a community ranking algorithm, but I am marketed to directly using the term that I am searching for. When I rent movies from Netflix, I come back after watching them and tell the world what I think. In sharing my rating, I am participating in a filtering system. This filter allows automated assumptions of how other people, with similar likes and dislikes, also organized their preferences. I am then told about other movies I have not encountered before that I may enjoy, increasing my exposure to media in an extremely directed manner. The more I consume and contribute, the better the suggestions become.
The power of meta data has an impact outside of personal preference analysis and has recently showed incredible promise in crossing language boundaries. Recently, Google demonstrated their incredibly powerful and natural translation tools using statistical machine translation. The premise of this method calculates the probability that a string of words in one language is the translation of a string of words in another language. The method that Google demonstrated was nothing new, and in fact, has been used many times before. Where Google’s approach differed was the size of the data set that they used. The probabilities are far easier to calculate, and much more accurate, because amount of data is outrageously massive. The data was simply more descriptive, and so the existing process was made better.
We are becoming less afraid of exposure and more in tune with opening our lives to inspection. Advanced algorithms analyze how we communicate to the world and decide what message to deliver back to us. At the same time, there is a human process that is expanding rapidly. Emerging tools in relationship management are helping organizations communicate better to their clients and constituents by delivering a summary of who that person is and their previous communications to that organization. Through these relationship management tools, a more personalized experience can be delivered to the constituent and creates a stronger connection.
The volume increase in meta data helps us over come the paradox of choice. There is no such thing as a fully informed decision, we are prisoners of our history and circumstances and usually will make a choice based on what we know, not all of our available options. When presented with a massively diverse set of options, our choices become less clear and we are more prone to making a bad decision. The paradox of choice is that when we are presented with a large set of options, we are prone toward paralysis rather than freedom. When we finally, if ever, do make a choice, we respond with a certain level of cognitive dissonance to justify that choice in the face of overwhelming option. As our communication network grows and progresses, we have a huge pool of choices to make. We will have to rely upon analysis of our communications meta data to assist us in not only making choice, but in communicating to our peers in a reasonable fashion.