This is old skool data mining.
In the UK, the Guardian Newspaper put 700,000 documents of MPs’ expenses online for review. Rather than employing text analysis software, the Guardian is relying on humans to read, decipher, and flag suspicious spending for further review. As of 5 am (MT) 80% of the documents were reviewed.
Nothing like the possibility of salacious or euphemistic mis-classification of dubious expenses to fire up the inquisitive nature of the common man.
I can’t help but wonder what this type of forensic illumination this may bring to the democratic process. How would MPs or members of Congress spend and behave if they knew the public might scrutinize line by line every reported expense? Would there be more accountability or would this lead to more creative methods by lobbying firms to buy influence?
Perhaps both.
michaelsevilla Idea to Grab, Online Communities, Things to watch Add new tag, consumer behavior, patterns
Just finished an article on the Kellogg Insight web site discussing research findings on mavens, community, and influence.
Using key work semantic analysis on the community postings, the Kellogg researchers determined those knighted as “influencers” are able to disproportionately sway opinion vs. the average community member. And more often than not, influencers took positions on a product’s performance and whether or not to buy the product.
This could be a great tool for those in the financial services industry. More specifically for analyst who follow and analyze earnings of product based companies. By using an online community and deploying a systematic research focus, it may be theoretically possible to determine how well a new product might perform in the market place. And, if it is a highly visible product (from a company’s revenue generation perspective) the community’s response could be a leading indicator on the impact the company’s bottom line.
michaelsevilla Idea to Grab, Online Communities, Social Economics Business School, Insight, Online Communities
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