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Dataclysm : who we are (when we think no one’s looking)
Rudder C., Crown Publishing Group, New York, NY, 2014. 304 pp. Type: Book (978-0-385347-37-2)
Date Reviewed: Jan 12 2015

During one of my recent trips, I read an article in one of those in-flight magazines about big data and all the excitement around it. Despite the targeted audience and the level of the article (meant for a general public), I admit that it raised an important point: is the excitement about big data worth it? The article claims that the answer is no. The author states that there is no convincing application, except for the Google flu trends that initially shed light on the importance of big data analytics. I totally disagree. I argue that the most salient big data applications are not made public. This can explain why the general public is not aware of them. Indeed, most of these applications either pertain to spying or making money by refining marketing strategies.

This book comes at the right time, as we begin realizing the importance of the data produced online. The data available on eBay, Facebook, Twitter, and other community and social networks represent a huge, free gold bucket waiting to be mined. The author is the founder of OkCupid, a very popular dating website, which was very useful as he used the data available from the website to support his claims. The author demonstrates how data purged from user profiles can be used to study human behavior. Many examples and graphs are included.

The book is divided into three parts. Each part contains either four or five chapters. The logic of this classification as I understand it is as follows:

  • Part 1 (chapters 1 to 5) exposes the different correlations big data analytics can highlight. For example, how people get together.
  • Part 2 (chapters 6 to 9), on the other hand, sheds light on the factors affecting human behavior. More precisely, “what pulls us apart.” For instance, race and social class.
  • Part 3 (chapters 10 to 14) gives examples on how to exploit some basic user data to build marketing, emotional, and so on profiles, and define who we are.

The book is full of anecdotes and personal experiences. It is easy to read, though it sometimes--unnecessarily--makes use of rude words. It is not technical at all, and somehow unnecessarily long. The whole message could have been summarized in fewer pages. Overall, this book can be used as a basic introduction to big data analytics.

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Reviewer:  Ghita Kouadri Review #: CR143074 (1504-0272)
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