Using social media has become a mandatory daily activity in today’s society. Social media fundamentally affects how well we can interact, build connections, acquire and disseminate information, and make the best decisions.
According to Apriandito Arya (Dito), Director of SocialX and social media analyst, the widespread use of social media can ultimately define behavior and patterns through big data.
“When users create content on social media, it contains information that tells us about their users’ interests and activities,” explained Dito at “Integrated Career Preparation,” a webinar held by SBM ITB on Saturday (10/9/2022).
User-generated content (UGC) is a modern word of mouth that offers personal details about a person. Information can be retrieved to generate useful insights for specific purposes.
“For example, we observe posts on social media from individuals in Bandung about their favorite Sundanese food and we can create products based on that data,” said Dito.
Dito stated that with the right methodology, we can even map individual information through social circles. We can create a person’s profile based on their connections on social media, such as their friends, community, and conversation topics.
In addition, social media offers a deeper understanding of social behavior. Social media can provide a comprehensive view of the social activities in an area, no matter how large the scope is.
Dito gave an example of the Foursquare data showing the intensity of social activities in various local hotspots and the activities that people in the area mostly carry out. We can then evaluate this data to determine when social activity is at its peak and where it is most likely to spread.
Dito continued that big data provides insight into previously unseen social patterns. These data are useful for developing several fields, such as marketing, tourism, psychology, politics, finance, and government. For example, seasonal analysis of Facebook post updates reveals breakup trends between couples that marketers can leverage to promote specific products.
Now everyone can get access to this data. According to Dito, the analytical tool integrated with social media platforms can be used as a data collection tool.