Projects in the Social Data Lab investigate emergent questions arising from the interplay among game changing technologies and rapidly changing customer expectations.
Current work addresses the need for radically different organizational responses to ubiquitous and conspicuous social and mobile connections. Other projects explore new requirements for online presence and reputation. Our results are made available to all lab members.
Social Data Intelligence Test
In May 2011, lab members Aldo Briano and Tim Holley, graduate students in MS&E, developed the Social Data Intelligence Test to assess how an organization tracks, analyzes, and acts on "social data" - information that consumers knowingly and willingly share. The 15-30 minute test is designed to encourage executives to think critically about their current practices and to reevaluate existing assumptions. Scores are represented across four dimensions: Product, Organization, Customer-Centricity, and Reputation.
The test is available online at socialdatalab.com/intelligence
Survey: Online vs. Offline Reputation In April 2011, the Lab conducted a survey of 98 tech-savvy Stanford students, to answer questions posed by the ongoing radical shift in consumer attitudes towards the creation and sharing of data, including:
Is the Internet still seen as an anonymous frontier? Or is credibility the key?
How are emergent social norms online shaping the way individuals make consumption decisions?
Jason Lee and Sameh El Amawy (MBA students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business), and Evelyn Larrubia and Michael Marcotte (Knight Journalism Fellows at Stanford) summarize the results in The Virtual Gets Virtuous: Why your online reputation matters more than your offline reputation
Digital Identity
The way we express ourselves and relate to others has dramatically changed in the age of social data, resulting in a paradigm shift in the way individuals construct their identity. Students in the Lab worked with the Innovation team at the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) to understand the impact of this shift on product development in a B2B context. At SWIFT's invitation, six Lab members will present their findings at SIBOS in Toronto in September 2011.
Member companies play an active role in formulating the Lab's research agenda. Projects are jointly defined and carried out by lab members under the supervision of the Lab Director.
