What Are Social Impacts of Big Data

Big Data is as widely discussed as it is misunderstood. Though unfathomably large quantities of data are produced every day, the vast majority of it is unmanaged. Nearly all of it is processed through AI and algorithms rather than prying human eyes.

Despite the misunderstandings and discomforts surrounding this ever-expanding technology, it’s pretty safe to say that Big Data is here for the long haul. And though Big Data handling and implementation can generate legitimate privacy concerns, it can also significantly impact everything from entertainment to crisis management.

Also Read: Origins and Evolution of Automotive Cyber Security

What Are Social Impacts of Big Data

This article takes a broad, sweeping look at the many social impacts created by Big Data.

1. Social Unease

One of the less quantifiable impacts of big data on the social scale is the vague sense of distrust already broadly felt by the public concerning how personal information is handled. Some of this distrust is quite reasonable. It seems that hardly a month goes by without a significant data compromise cropping up in the news cycle.

Ignorance also plays its part. Much of the social discomfort concerning Big Data arises because very few people understand how their information is personally associated with them and anonymous. Also frequently misunderstood is how much data is being reviewed by human eyes versus algorithms and AI.

As the supersaturation of Big Data continues to increase, public education may help to stave off some of the discomforts. However, for data implementation to be truly harmonious, a degree of receptiveness to public opinion may also be required.

In the relatively short amount of time that the question has been in flux, we have already observed some companies being forced to pivot in their data implementation policies as they respond to public outcries.

To that end, it may be reasonable to assume that consumer opinion may have as much of a role as legislation in determining how information is used going forward.

Also Read: Why Is Computer Network Important in Everyday Life?

2. Significant Changes to the Business Framework

As businesses continue to move towards Big Data, there will be a necessary shift in workplace attitudes and practices to reflect the change. You cannot achieve proper data implementation halfheartedly. It has already been well documented that companies wishing to improve their data implementation find the best results by making significant changes to their culture.

This might include regular training, new technological infrastructure, shifts in traditional responsibilities, and other changes that begin at the corporate level and permeate throughout the entire business.

An emphasis on Big Data implementation at the corporate level has grown significantly over the past decade. Presently, many businesses have yet to make the adjustments necessary for proper data implementation.

However, shortly, it’s reasonable to assume that people from a wide range of different professional backgrounds will find that their work responsibilities have in some way pivoted to include data implementation. Similarly, it may be reasonable to expect an influx of people wishing to explore careers in data science.

Also Read: 25 Best Hidden iPhone Secret Codes [USSD Codes]

3. Better Medicine

Big Data has already played its role in the evolution of 21st-century medicine. Presently, some technologies pair data with AI to radically enhance the speed of diagnostics and treatments.

Historically, ailing patients have had to make regular trips to their physicians. At the doctor’s office, their vitals would be monitored, while the physician would consult their reference materials and possibly their colleagues to make their diagnostic determinations.

This imprecise, lengthy process can be complex, both for ailing patients and the healthcare system as a whole. Add to this that many conditions can accelerate quickly, and a more precise portrait of a deep-seated healthcare problem begins to emerge.

Also Read: 15 Best Wayback Machine Alternative Websites

Data coupled with AI can do much to alleviate this burden. From a pure data collection standpoint, there are now many wearable technologies that allow patient information to be taken remotely on a near-constant basis and then monitored and the physician’s leisure.

Thanks to the Internet of Things, medical devices such as heart monitors can record a patient’s vital signs so that they can get real-time health information without the need to step into a hospital.

Not only is this convenient for the patient, but it also saves physicians time, allowing them to direct more of their resources to more demanding cases. From a diagnostic perspective, AI and Big Data can also speed things along by providing clear possibilities. With the right technology, a physician can type in a patient’s general health information, along with their symptoms.

An algorithm will then sort through a Big Data database and make several suggestions as to what might be responsible for the patient’s ailments. Diagnoses get made faster. Fewer people become seriously ill, and the healthcare system functions more fluidly.

Also Read: 8 Best Acrostic Poem Generator Websites

4. Prescriptive Medical Recommendations

In a similar vein, better extensive data analysis may also result in more prescriptive medical advice. Whereas now, it might tell a twenty-five-year-old male to exercise for x amount of minutes a day and eat x amount of calories, Big Data could allow for more personalized recommendations.

Instead of providing the standard recommendations, which could just as quickly be located on a Google snippet, a patient might receive suggestions that are specific to their race, height, weight, and family history. Not only will this be beneficial to the patient, but it will also further unburden the medical system as a whole by providing better preventive care.

Also Read: 15 Best Office Chair for Programmers in 2022

5. Crisis Management

Big Data is already playing a significant role in crisis management. For example, in 2008, a phone application in Kenya crowdsourced data on where the most violent episodes of social unrest took place in the wake of a tumultuous election. 
The program automatically generated maps illustrating where those seeking safe havens could go by harvesting real-time data from people on the scene.

Interactive mapping technology has advanced considerably since then, providing a host of benefits to communities reeling from disaster. In 2010, for example, Haitians could utilize a new Google tool called “Person Finder” to connect with missing loved ones following a disastrous earthquake.

By checking in online, big data reunited thousands of people with friends and family members over just a few days. Since then, other tech companies, including Facebook, have rolled out software with the capacity to produce similar results.

Also Read: 8 Best Grammar Checker Extensions For Google Chrome

By harvesting data from social media, AI algorithms can also assist in emergency response by ensuring resources are used as efficiently as possible. As people suffering a natural disaster produce digital data, first responders receive a clear picture of where they will encounter the greatest need.

Big Data also aids in disaster readiness. In the past disaster, simulations have been highly theoretical and largely inaccurate. However, with data-generated simulations, crisis responders have a clearer picture of how emergencies unfold.

6. Big Data and Advertising

Just about everyone with an online presence has experienced the surreal discomfort of Big Data-driven advertisements. One can hardly even discuss a product without seeing it advertised on Facebook later in the day.

You needn’t even be online to find personalized advertisements that directly respond to your search history. Currently, there are digital billboards that receive digital phone data from passersby and generate advertisements accordingly.

Also Read: 10 Best Computer Science Learning Websites

While those who are uncomfortable with data tracks do have their recourses—limiting their online activity, clearing “cookies,” etc., the fact of the matter is that data creation in the digital age is not optional.

Uncomfortable though consumers on the receiving end of highly targeted ads may be, there are benefits. Businesses connect with a receptive audience, and buyers receive notifications for products they might like.

7. Crime Prevention

Crime prevention is another category for which privacy is sacrificed for the more significant benefit of social good. One of the inherently uncomfortable aspects of preventing crime is that it necessarily applies suspicion to people who have yet to do anything wrong.

We already accept the application of crime preventative measures to an extent. For example, airport security is applied indiscriminately to everyone who steps into a terminal. TSA agents profile people in real-time, and if they display suspicious behavior, they are subjected to additional security screening.

Also Read: 9 Best Free Haiku Syllable Counter Websites

Big Data allows this to unfold on a broader scale. For example, law enforcement can now use social media-generated information to identify the potential for violent crimes based on people’s public postings.

Law enforcement agencies can also use Big Data to make the most of their limited resources on a perhaps less personally invasive scale. Using analytical technology, police can establish well-defined maps of where crime rates are the highest and then conduct their policing accordingly.

8. Big Data in Education

Big Data can have an enormous impact on education, both for students and at an administrative level. From the perspective of a university, it may use data to forecast what programs are in the highest demand—not just currently but over the next several years.

From there, they can use their resources to create programs that will appeal most broadly to incoming first-year students. Big Data can also help students. For example, using algorithms, students displaying at-risk behavior involving grades or classwork might be noticed and addressed sooner than would otherwise be possible, thus lowering the academic dropout rate.

Data can also help educators at every level develop courses of study that are effective and aligned with the student body’s broader educational needs.

Also Read: 20 Best Online Coding Camp For Kids [2022]

9. Entertainment

Entertainment has always been about giving people what they want. In a world where franchises are constantly in sequels, prequels, and reboots, fan service has never been so well catered to. Big Data allows entertainment companies to take a very detailed look at their audience’s wants.

This helps save time and money for content-producing companies by focusing effort on activities that produce the best outcomes. On the consumer end, it means audiences get more of what they want. We already live in a hyper-personalized world of content consumption.

Long gone are the days when viewers were beholden to the cable schedule. With streaming, people can see what they want when they want to see it. Data can further personalize entertainment by giving people extremely customized recommendations based on their previous history.

If you’ve ever enjoyed a Spotify playlist or been thrilled by a movie recommended by Netlfix, you can thank data processing and implementation for the experience.

Also Read: 7 Best Automatic Subtitle Generator Apps [2022]

Conclusion

Unquestionably, Big Data’s continued persistence will be met with social comfort in addition to any goodwill it receives. And yet we can be equally confident that any dissent will ultimately enjoy the same efficacy of complaints concerning the emergence of the plow.
Such is the nature of emerging technology.

Big Data is a tool with benefits, both social and financial. As those benefits continue to reveal themselves, people on the receiving end of them will inevitably grow more permissive of the technology’s shortcomings. Or, they won’t, and the technology will persist anyway.

The question is not how Big Data should shape our lives in the future. Though not new, the technology is currently young enough to be tamed in a way that suits general social preferences. Through social education, accountability, and advocacy, it is possible to enjoy a future where the benefits of Big Data are broadly enjoyed, and the shortcomings fade into obscurity.