Researchers have developed special software that does personality-profiling and then categorizes the user into one of five "dimensions of personality" as recognized by modern psychology.
Those categories are: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. Research has already proven that extroverts prefer Coca-Cola over Pepsi, and Agreeable people prefer Pepsi.
By analyzing specific words in our Tweets, they can determine our personality type. This profiling software can draw a reasonably accurate personality profile from just 50 tweets, and very accurate from 200.
What is all this personality information good for? Advertising of course.
Advertisers currently try to understand their customers through basic demographics and existing buying habits. But with this new software, the researchers believe, they would have a better approach to advertising by discovering our deep psychological profiles.
Hmmm. Interesting.
How do you feel about this?
[Information from The Economist, May 25-31st 2013; "No Hiding Place"]
[graphic from google images]
I still can't get into Twitter that much (it's my least favorite form of social media BY FAR), but I totally agree that you can figure out people's personalities by what they post on social media. I think it's cool!
ReplyDeleteWhen things (services) are offered for free, there is usually a reciprocal payback to the person/company who makes the offer. Offers (espec. free) are to entice us to try something. Surveys, samplings, profilings of people from basic info previously based on your demographics, but now using social media, can be more invasive than some believe.
ReplyDeleteSocial media seems to have many hidden agendas. Some of the analytics we like, but how many are used for other purposes? It's too easy to put people in boxes for categorization, without considering other layers. Surveys and sampling of data has its pitfalls, too.
Remember, advertising's mandate is to sell, sell, sell. We are the lab rats being studied.