Thanks to the Internet, it’s undeniable that we live in the information age. With the world’s knowledge at our fingertips, there are few topics we can’t find information about or subjects that we can’t research.
This golden age of information coexists with platforms for sharing our thoughts and ideas: social media. In a world where data is everything, the prevalent place of social media in our lives may not be as beneficial as we believe, with social data mining becoming a larger threat to privacy than ever before.
Many, however, are unaware of social data mining, how it is conducted, and the ramifications it can hold. If you’re one of these people, read on as we see what social data mining means for people who openly share their lives on social media platforms.
What Is Social Data Mining?
Social data mining occurs when companies or social media platforms extract and store large amounts of information (often called data points) about a user based on their posts on social platforms. This information can be mined per individual or on whole groups of users.
The main reason for social data mining is to help identify trends, patterns, or insights about individuals or groups at large. This information is collected from social posts, blog discussions, or any other public social platform you may be engaged in and helps build a user’s digital profile based on the data points collected.
How Does Social Data Mining Happen?
Although each company or platform may do things slightly differently, a common practice is followed when mining information found on social platforms. This practice can be broken down into five unique stages:
Collection
Collection is the most vital stage of data mining, as it is when all information about a user is captured and stored. This is commonly done automatically through web scraping tools and algorithms that look for particular data on social or other online platforms and then transfer this data into a central database.
Processing
Once information on a user (or various users) has been collected, the data is restructured into a readable format. This involves removing any non-essential data points and organizing the data into a format that the company mining it can use.
Analysis
The third stage involves analyzing all collected and processed information. This step could be skipped if a company is looking at data points about an individual, but it is essential when using the data points to identify patterns or trends across multiple users.
When analyzing the data, companies often employ advanced algorithms or artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify these patterns. Any unique insights are then highlighted for later perusal.
Interpretation
Once the collected information has been structured and any meaningful insights made known, the data is presented for interpretation. This step involves drawing a conclusion based on the data that could be based on a particular interest of a singular person or insights into a larger group’s thoughts about a subject.
Implementation
After interpreting the results of the data points, the final stage of data mining involves implementing or applying this knowledge. One example of how this occurs is when a data mining company looks for leads highlighting individuals who showed an interest in a particular product that can then be targeted with advertising.
What Does Social Data Mining Mean for Me?
One of the largest concerns over social data mining is what it means for the end user—the person whose data is being mined. In this regard, there are some positives and negatives.
Privacy
The main concern is that social data mining removes privacy. Because companies can easily scrap huge quantities of data, it is easy for personal information to wind up in a company’s database.
Although many platforms have taken steps to mitigate this infringement on privacy by only allowing mining if you’ve expressly consented to it, many worry that it still occurs.
Targeted Marketing
One positive effect of social data mining is that companies can use the information collected about you to provide advertising more relevant to your interests. Through this, the ads you see online are more likely to be something you’re looking for and can help you find deals, giving you a chance to win spins or get a great discount on items.
Footprint
Another concern surrounding the mining of personal data is that it creates a lasting record of your online time—even if you delete the social post from which the data was mined. This ties into privacy concerns about your actions online being stored indefinitely, even if you’ve tried to remove them.
Company Innovation and Service
Aside from using it to provide target ads, companies can also use mined data to aid in product innovation and development and in helping address customer service issues. By seeing what masses of people are interested in and want or what they are complaining about most, companies can work on new items to satisfy demand or fix things causing consumer aggravation.
How to Stop Your Social Data from Being Mined
Although there is no foolproof way to prevent companies and platforms from scraping and mining your social data, there are things you can do to mitigate this.
Opt-Out and Adjust
The number one way to stop your data from being mined is to opt out of any data collection program run by a social platform or site. Doing this informs the site that you don’t consent to your data being collected and can add you to an exclusion list for miners.
Secondly, regularly review the privacy settings of any social media account. Ensuring that only the people you want to see your information can access it goes a long way toward stopping your data from becoming public knowledge or being added to a database.
Be Privacy Minded
Alongside opting out of collection programs, opt to only use social platforms or websites that are focused on protecting your privacy. When doing this, ensure to employ anti-tracking tools, VPNs, or browsers that actively limit the number of data points that can be tracked from your web activity.
Be Careful What You Share
Above all, the best way to stop personal information from being mined from social channels is to avoid publishing it. Being mindful of the information you share, what you like, and who you follow can leave little information about you for a company to mine.
Being careful about what you post is the only way to ensure that certain data points cannot be collected about you.
