executive
You need to consider the data that you don't have, and the things that you don't know. Sometimes it is enough just to know that there is something that you don't know, other times it's necessary to figure how to unlock the hidden data.
If you want to be successful in the new media world, there is one thing that you always need to do before you make a decision. You need to look at the data that you don't have, and analyze the things that you don't know.
Failing to do so, is actually one of the main reasons why most social media studies are completely worthless. They only look at the data they can see, and based on that they draw a conclusion that they have no basis to make.
I know how this sounds. How can you analyze data that you don't have? How can you make a decision based on something you don't know? Isn't that impossible?
Well, no. It is actually much easier than you might think. But before I get to that, let me illustrate the problem.
I was recently watching a talk by Dr Neil DeGrasse Tyson that he gave a couple of years back. It is a long (and funny) talk about all kinds of things, but part of it was about math illiteracy. For instance, when a reporter says that "more than 50% are below average"...Mmmm...
But he gave another example, which I just love because it's very similar to what we see in many new media studies (and infographics). It goes like this: "80 percent of airplane crash survivors had studied the locations of the exit doors upon takeoff"
A survey company has apparently contacted a group of airplane crash survivors and asked them this question, and the result seems to be remarkable. It was 80% of those who survived.
So what conclusions can you make? Many will say that studying the exit locations will improve your chance of surviving a crash, right? That's what people think when they see this data. It was 80% of those who survived!
This Baekdal/Executive article can only accessed bysubscribing to Baekdal/Executive (which also gives you full access to our full archieve of executive reports)
Baekdal is a magazine for media professionals, focusing on media analysis, trends, patterns, strategy, journalistic focus, and newsroom optimization. Since 2010, it has helped publishers in more than 40 countries, including big and small publishers like Condé Nast, Bonnier, Schibsted, NRC, and others, as well as companies like Google and Microsoft.
Baekdal comes in three tiers:
Free weekly newsletters for media professionals, focusing on news, trends, and quick insights.
Weekly media insights and analysis for journalists, editors, and business managers, helping you focus and optimize your newsroom and audience engagement.
In-depth media reports for editors-in-chief, executives, and other decision makers, helping you understand the future of media, trends, patterns, monetization, data, and strategies.
Founder, media analyst, author, and publisher. Follow on Twitter
"Thomas Baekdal is one of Scandinavia's most sought-after experts in the digitization of media companies. He has made himself known for his analysis of how digitization has changed the way we consume media."
Swedish business magazine, Resumé
executive
free
executive
executive
executive
free