Twitter Consistently Valuable for Analytics Initiatives

While big data and analytics can indisputably be considered among the most dominant trends to pervade the enterprise world in the last few years, they certainly do not exist in a vacuum.

While big data and analytics can indisputably be considered among the most dominant trends to pervade the enterprise world in the last few years, they certainly do not exist in a vacuum. The technology that has the greatest chance at longevity is that with the capability to work in conjunction with other platforms. Analytics, for its part, has proved its ability to do so in concert with a number of other mediums. Its compatibility with social media, particularly Twitter, arguably serves as the best recent example of this.

Companies looking for reasons to adopt better business intelligence platforms – or to improve their existing uses of BI – would be wise to consider the ways in which Twitter has been an incredibly valuable tool for businesses that are trying to better their bottom lines using big data. While the utilization of Twitter-adjacent analytics has not been a massive, across-the-board trend and some have voiced skepticism about its ultimate value, many more have been very vocal about its short- and long-term benefits. Business leaders should look at the issue from all sides before making any final decisions regarding this matter.

Twitter’s value – a question of perspective
According to SmartDataCollective, the primary voices behind the negative views of Twitter on an enterprise level are those who come from past generations. Even in 2013, numerous businesses are led by baby boomers and those from Generation X. Many of those from the former generation were quick to underrate and dismiss the potential of social media sites when they first became popular, and a considerable number of Gen-X members publicly espoused similar views. While a lot of those people have since changed their tunes, there are still some who remain skeptical.

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The news source stated that in spite of any skepticism, the value of Twitter lies in the JavaScript data that makes up every tweet. The sheer amount of metrics involved can be analyzed in a variety of different analytics pursuits, tracking info such as location, time, and much more. All of this can be actionably applied.

Startups turning to Twitter analytics
The Financial Times reported that a variety of analytics startups are attracting millions in venture capital and being bought out for sizable sums in the past few weeks. All of the firms involved are notable for making significant use of Twitter data – analyzing trending topics, sentiments and user behavior (which includes actions such as favorites, follows, unfollows and retweets). 

Stock traders are among some of the most prominent users of Twitter-based analytics, according to the source, but it is spreading considerably to advertising, retail and various other sectors.