Dataclysm

who we are : when we think no one's looking

300 pages

English language

Published Aug. 13, 2014 by Random House Canada.

ISBN:
978-0-345-81258-2
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OCLC Number:
876425171

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4 stars (2 reviews)

An irreverent, provocative, and visually fascinating look at what our online lives reveal about who we really are--and how this deluge of data will transform the science of human behavior. Big Data is used to spy on us, hire and fire us, and sell us things we don't need. In Dataclysm, Christian Rudder puts this flood of information to an entirely different use: understanding human nature. Drawing on terabytes of data from Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, OkCupid, and many other sites, Rudder examines the terrain of human experience. He charts the rise and fall of America's most reviled word through Google Search, examines the new dynamics of collaborative rage on Twitter, and traces human migration over time, showing how groups of people move from certain small towns to the same big cities across the globe. And he grapples with the challenge of maintaining privacy in a world where these explorations are …

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Review of "Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One's Looking)" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Since the advent of the last decade, we have been awash in an ocean of data, but we have only just begun to chart the wind and tides, much less plumb the depths.

Christian Rudder's Dataclysm offers a few sharp insights into the power of Big Data both to analyse us in the aggregate and profile us on a personal level. Rudder's focus, mercifully for us, is on the aggregate, but whether we are gay or straight, pregnant or not, sexually active or celibate, or in the market for anything at al, we cannot hide our digitized identity.

The main focus of Rudder's book, however, is on what Big Data can tell about ourselves as a people not ourselves as persons, whether it's age preferences of men and women looking for dates, racial biases in the evaluation of attraction, disease trends, or pharmaceutical dangers. Even as Rudder celebrates the power …

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Subjects

  • Recherche
  • Aspect social
  • Ressources Internet
  • Research
  • Information électronique
  • Internet
  • Computer network resources
  • Social sciences

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