Technology development influences varieties of data resources which people can access. The data resources vary in terms of media, the number, and formats. The data, then, are well known as ‘Big Data’ that many companies have been utilizing to market their products.

In a one day workshop on ‘Visual Culture & Big Data Research’ organized by Communication Sciences on Tuesday (25/7) at Multimedia room, a Communication Science lecture of Universitas Jaume I of Castellon, Spain Francisco Jose Lopez Cantos talked about the use of big data. He told that the big data are most commonly employed by businesspersons, particularly advertising companies, to make advertisements in line with characters, habits, and interests of consumers. Besides, the big data can be used by academicians and students to conduct research as well as citizens to manage home industries.

He also told, “A lot of enterprises need the data to recognize public circumstances, to analyze consumer characteristics, and to determine targets of their products. The characteristic development can be noticed based on various data that eventually lead to deep understanding of consumer characteristics.”

Francisco, who is also Professor in Audiovisual Communication and Publicity, inserted that the big data can be gathered from any online and offline media platforms such as books, newspapers, magazines, and others. “To decide whether the data are good or bad depends on goals of companies. The collected data, then, are given to parties that need the information. Nevertheless, many big companies cannot analyze information well because they sometimes entail specific data. The big data ease people to manage data accurately, but the data should be checked well so that people can receive information,” he explained.

“Since the big data comprise a lot of information, manipulation may likely occurs. We easily knew sources of data, yet everyone now can access the big data. Indeed, the big data emphasize to personality of individuals as data. Government also employs the big data to find out community behaviors so that public policy can be made as the circumstances of the people,” ended Francisco.