You cannot always make the unstructured data from social media do what you want it do, which is why examining it in isolation does not ... CONTINUETOSITE➞ Search ContentMarketing DigitalStrategy SocialMarketing SocialMediaUpdates LiveTwitterChat SMTExperts BecomeaContributor Anarticlefrom TheDifferenceBetweenStructuredandUnstructuredDatainSocialMedia PublishedJune24,2013 By GarethPrice HeadofResearchatTheSocialPartners(GreyLondon) TheGuardianrecentlyusedausefulanalogytoexplainthedifferencebetweencontentandmetadata.Contentbeingtheletterandmetadatatheenvelope.So,forexample,inanemailthe"to","from"and"cc"fieldsaremetadata,butthesubjectlineiscontent.Essentially,themetadataisstructuredandthecontentisunstructured.Insocialmediaresearch,thedistinctionbetweenthetwoisnotalwaysmadeclear.Whileyoucangleaninformationfromthestructureddata,analysingtheunstructureddataistheonlywaytouncoverinsights.It'salsothemostdifficultparttodo(anddowell).SeniorEuropeanconsumerinsightmanageratAveryDennison,EdwardAppleton,definesinsightas:1.Invariablybelowthesurface.Itisn'timmediatelyvisibleorapparent.2.Notalreadycommonknowledgeorpartofprevailingwisdom.3.Leadingtoanewopportunityorgrowthpotentialthatcanbeeffectivelyexploited.Thestructureddatacanprovidethewhat,whereandwhen,butnotthehoworthewhy.Unfortunately,attemptstostandardisethemeasurementofsocialmediaoftenfocusonthestructureddata.Thequantitativemetricslikere-tweets,pinsandlikes.Thekindofdatathatallowsyoutodoanetworkanalysisofwho'stalkingtowhom,or(attemptto)measure'influence'and'engagement'.Allofwhichcanbeinterestingandprovidesavaluablecontexttoanysubsequentanalysisofthecontent.However,whenitcomestoestablishingasingleframeworkforhowtoapproachtheresearch,treatingthestructuredandunstructureddataasthesamethingmakesaboutasmuchsenseashavingasingleframeworkforrunningafocusgroupandasurvey.Italsobetraysadigitaldualisminviewingsocialmediaasasingleentity,inwhichathrowawaytweetaboutatrendinghashtagistreatedthesameasanInstragrammedphoto,oranin-depthdiscussiononamessageboard.Itfurtherfailstodifferentiateinthemanydifferentwaysdifferentpeopleusedifferentsites.Simplyput,therewillneverbeonewaytointerpretaconversation.Itwillalwaysdependentirelyonthecontextofhowthediscussionisbeingcategorisedandtowhatpurpose.Youcannotalwaysmaketheunstructureddatafromsocialmediadowhatyouwantitdo,whichiswhyexaminingitinisolationdoesnotalwayswork.Pursuingasingleframeworkstrikesmeaserroneousaspursuingasinglemetrictomeasureinfluence.Andyoudon'tfindtoomanycrediblepeoplecontinuingtoadvocatethelatter.Ratherthanimposingrigidstandards,Ithinkweshouldaimtoexplainclearlyandtransparentlyhowwewentaboutcollecting,organisingandinterpretingthedatainawaythatmakessensetotheoriginalobjectiveeachtime.Creatingbroadguidelines,ratherthanastandardisedframework,willalsoenableustorespondmorequicklytoemergingtypesofsocialmedia.Weshouldalsoalwaysaimtodistinguishbetweenthestructureddataandtheconversationsthatarenot(untilwecategorisetheminsomemanner)dataassuch.Youcanbringordertounstructureddatabutyoucannotimposeorderonit.image:data/shutterstock Follow GarethPrice on Twitter post share tweet print email FiledUnder: ContentMarketing SocialMediaTodaynewsdeliveredtoyourinbox Getthefreedailynewsletterreadbyindustryexperts Email: Selectuserconsent: Bysigninguptoreceiveournewsletter,youagreetoour TermsofUseand PrivacyPolicy.Youcanunsubscribeatanytime. 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