Data Is The Next "Intel Inside" #A1

The story goes that between 1981 and the mid 2000s, Intel, a company that develops computing devices, began a campaign to separate themselves from other competitors. They started a campaign due to the fact their hardware was unrecognized because everyone assumed what was inside the computer was created by the devices brand. To differentiate themselves, they branded all of their devices stating that it would be better than the competitors and paid companies to advertise this message.

However, hardware is not the most important thing today. Instead, it is the data that is stored or received from these devices or services which are seen as valuable assets to organisations as it helps better understand their user base. The reason being is that these databases hold information about the user and common trends which can tell an organisation if they are growing in a positive or negative way. Not all organisations will have the data available, like Facebook does due to their user base which is why it holds such value.

So a good example of a social tool with a well recognized user base is none other than...

Pinterest is a website focused on users making a profile and showing their interesting in certain activities or sites by bookmarking other sites or other pinterests as individual images. The reason why Pinterest has such a wide user base is that it allows its users to make a post and then brings together other users with similar interests. The data found inside Pinterest is enhanced by the use of comments, likes, and by how many people have the same post/image pinned on their profile. Majority of posts will have the users description of the post linking it to the website the post was found. This database is further enhanced by the search bar and the tags that connect to each post. By typing in key words, a post can be easily found by typing specific tags.

The site also melds with other social tools making it a one click connection. On top of that, the site allows you to create secret posts that only you can manage and see while no other user can view creating a secure environment for their interests. What this means for Pinterest is that they are able to see what kind of data is seen by a user and therefore can make recommended posts which the user may be interested in. Another fact about Pinterest's terms and services is that once something is uploaded to Pinterest, it may continue to stay up there even though your account is closed and it can be copied and pinned on other user accounts.

A bad thing which has emerged from the use of Pinterest is that it may possibly alter a user’s online identity. According to a post, a user was trying to advertise their own site using their Pinterest profile; however, it removed the traffic going to their own website as users did not progress to the link included. Although this is not technically Pinterest's fault, it has a negative impact on those who do try to make a name for themselves in the online world.

If we were to compare Pinterest to a similar site for example 'Dribbble', the difference would be their user base. Dribbble limits the number of people who can actually post. Thus, it prevents anyone from creating an account and posting posts they find in comparison to Pinterest. This means that less people would use Dribbble as they limit what their users can do where Pinterest does not.

So we can see that Pinterest accumulates data which may be considered a valuable asset to them and possibly other organisations for research. From the image above, there is value in all sorts of data gathered from the social tool including which countries use the tool the most or to track upcoming trends.