Big Data
- Technology
- 30 January 2025
- 3 min. Read
Have you ever got scared because you just looked at a product from your phone, just for a second, and in a few minutes you saw ads about that product on your laptop?
Even though we don’t really think about Big Data, it’s very aware of us.
As you can see from the name, Big Data is a very large database. It watches us just like Big Brother in George Orwell’s novel 1984.
All electronic devices we use contain some form of coding, and Big Data refers to extremely large and diverse collections of data that continue to grow exponentially over time. These datasets are so large and complex in volume, velocity, and variety that traditional data management systems cannot store, process, and analyse them. We’ve already talked about machine learning in another article, but it’s worth mentioning again because it’s a great example of how big data is used in many different places.
“Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else.”― George Orwell, 1984
What is this Big Data?
As Big Data grows, it receives more and more new data. But where does this data come from? Big Data monitors and records every move we make on the internet. It doesn’t just track what we click on, but even when we share a video or send a tweet. This data goes to Big Data which helps companies have an idea of who we are.
There are three types of big data: structured, unstructured, and semi-structured.
- Structured data is easy to store and accounts for 20% of the total data collected. It can be produced by humans or machines and includes things like address information, customer ratings in numbers and demographic data.
- Unstructured; Before AI, it was harder to evaluate and search big data, so people ignored it despite it making up a significantly larger percentage of the population. Images, sounds, movies, social media posts and open-ended surveys are the first examples that come to mind.
- Semi-structured data is a mix of organised and unstructured information. It includes simple, easily readable parts as well as data that is difficult for machines to examine. For example, an email message contains unstructured text, but it also includes structured data like the sender’s email address, the recipient’s name, and the time.
Where Do We See This?
Most companies that use it are well-known ones, like Amazon. This is where the data of the products recommended to you comes from. You might think that the prices don’t change when shopping on Amazon , but you’d be wrong. Amazon changes its prices almost 2.5 million times a day. The more you buy, the more it affects the price.
We often talk about websites in terms of technology, but the ones that use Big Data the most are hotels. Marriott Hotels uses it a lot, for example, this hotel chain with many hotels in London always changes its prices using Big Data. They go so deep that they can even track whether famous musicians are playing at Madison Square Garden and adjust rates for nearby hotels.
Apple employs big data analytics to inform product development and improvement. They also utilise secure data storage and management solutions, such as iCloud, to safeguard user data.
Some people think that Big Data also affects our privacy. What do you think, do you agree with them?
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