The Benefits of Datafication

Kenneth Cukier talks about datafication and the benefits of turning social interactions into information in this media assisted studies speech. Cukier begins by explaining to the viewer what datafication means. Social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have turned social interactions, personal thoughts and professional achievements into data. In previous decades, no one had thought to record or take note of social interactions or personal updates, but now that's a common thing.

Cukier says that there are benefits to this kind of datafication. He uses vaccinations as an example. Cukier explains that flu shots, when given to the majority of the population are expected to cover everyone. However, through Twitter interactions, researchers have discovered that this might not be the case. There are large groups of people who don't get vaccinated and connect both on Twitter and physically. These social media platforms provide researchers with valuable information from all over the world.