Illuminated Living: Metadata A Love Note To The Future

Technology

As participants in the today’s information age we share metadata without even knowing it. Metadata is a set of data that describes and gives information about other data. In marketing, major companies use algorithms and metadata to analyze and target audiences for their products. Have you ever wondered why when you Google search for a particular product, you all of sudden start to see sponsored post for those items in your social media feed? You can thank metadata for that. Last year Facebook came under fire and was accused of discrimination by allowing advertisers to target users by ‘ethnic affinity’.

(Video) Intricity Simple Explanation of Metadata

Metadata in Everyday Life

“Metadata is pervasive in information systems, and comes in many forms. The core features of most software packages we use every day are metadata-driven. People listen to music through Spotify; post photos on Instagram; locate video on YouTube; manage finances through Quicken; connect with others via email, text, and social media; and store lengthy contact lists on their mobile devices. All of this content comes with metadata—information about the item’s creation, name, topic, features, and the like. Metadata is key to the functionality of the systems holding the content, enabling users to find items of interest, record essential information about them, and share that information with others.” ~ National Information Standards Organization (NISO)

Studying Metadata

The Presidential Records Act, which states that any record created by a president needs to be turned over to the National Archive and Records Administration, was expanded in 2010 to include tweets. Scholars plan to use the social media data to teach courses on metadata applications. Source: The Daily Texan, Using Obama’s Tweets to Study Data

5 Ways We Share Metadata Without Knowing It

The amount of data being shared online is not slowing down. We should understand the role that metadata has in our lives.

GPS Locator – Check your location settings on your device(s) you could be sharing more than you intended.

Hashtags – Hashtags instantly link you a particular subject matter, topic, or event.

Profile Settings – Usually in your application settings you provide your name, age, occupation, location, school or business affiliations, and possible much more.

E-Mail – An e-mail can often share your IP address, location

Retail Loyalty Cards – Retailers and businesses to gather customer data to monitor buyer habits.

LifeHacker | The Top 50 Companies That Mine and Sell Your Data (and How to Opt Out)

Rather you are an opponent or proponent of metadata, the gathering of our information is here to stay. Some even believe “Metadata is a Love Note to the Future”.