Data Collection And How It Can Be Used

There are a lot of people on the internet. A LOT.

As you can probably imagine, a lot of people means a surplus of data. Meta data, hierachial data, reference data, it goes on and on. There are social media sites, blogs, vlogs, and various other websites that are collecting data every single second of every single day.

That's a lot of data.

I was wandering in my brain the other day and got to wondering how all of that data is just swirling around out there in the ocean of the internet and the internet, for the most part, hasn't collapsed upon itself because of all of the information it carries. 

Basically, I imagined mountains of humming, whirring servers plotting to take over the world.

My brain is a weird place, always.

So, to The Google I went to find out how exactly that works. What I found is that there are quite a few data management tools out there that offer solutions for companies with all of this data. 

I'm never going to be able to invent ANYTHING because people think of these things before I do.

Anyway, I fell way down that rabbit hole and kept on digging.  Data and how companies handle it has been in the news quite a bit recently. Many companies are trying very hard to not make the mistakes of Facebook. It was a mistake no one wants to make again. It was a huge event in history with a gargantuan effect on how data is handled, NOT shared, and managed. The impact of that catastrophe has shockwaves that are still spreading throughout the internet and will continue to spread for many years to come. I'm not sure what that means for the future of Facebook but I've always been partial to Twitter, anyway.

The way data is influencing AI is another interesting topic I came across. Microsoft recently announced that they are learning how data, advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI are able to optimize operations and drive innovation. In this case, the collection of data is being used in a positive way to bring better products to customers while keeping the internet speedily winding through its tubes as we are used to. In a sense, the internet is evolving with us.

I came to the conclusion that data collection can be used in a positive way or negative way. Obviously, we would prefer the positive way, as we all learned the hard way. If the *positive* collection of data means better and faster response to health concerns, smarter computers, and better ways to facillitate solutions to problems generally handled by computers, it would be the best thing for the internet and us as a whole. 

As long as it does not begin the mass overtaking of humans by machines, I'm alright with it.

What do you think about data collection? Has it personally affected you? I would love to hear about your experiences in the comments!