Challenge | Description |
Inconsistent Dataset | · Different tools have different filtering capabilities · Solutions can only draw from public Facebook posts to protect privacy. · Different tools have different access to the Twitter “firehose”. · Crawlers and spam filters also affect dataset results. |
New Behaviors | · Social media creates new behaviors that must be interpreted, and the value must be understood. Examples: o A “Like” on Facebook. o A re-tweet on Twitter o A check-in on Foursquare · Answers vary based on industry and business objective. |
Disparate Sources | · Most brand conversations occur off the main website, outside the reach of traditional web analytics providers · New apps generate data from an ever-increasing array of sources, each with different characteristics. · Social analytics solutions are still new; few case studies from which to learn. |
Language Limitations | · Industry terms · Slang and abbreviations: LOL, OMG, TTYL, ROFL · Irony and sarcasm · Emoticons J · Uneven support for global languages |
Different Analytical Approaches by Vendors | Differing approaches to data collection affect results: · Keyword-based is the simplest and least expensive, but least accurate. · Natural language processing and algorithmic approaches are more sophisticated and expensive. |