Bee Measure

Get Direction From Your Data

Archives for February 2017

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Google on Breitbart, Data Selfies and Visualizing Our Stress

We’ve Got to Fight, For Our Right… To Analyze
It’s hard to get people excited about data. So I’m thrilled that many are fired up about data deletion under the Trump administration. Gizmodo covers how rescuing government data has become a movement. One interviewee even calls it “a modern day form of book burning.”

My AdWords Campaign is on Breitbart?!
Tech companies Facebook, Google and Amazon have spoken out against Trump’s Muslim ban, yet they still send advertising dollars to Breitbart. Google even runs its AdSense network on the site (so your org’s ads might be appearing there). Huffington Post asks these companies what’s going on. Spoiler: They don’t really answer.

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Facebook’s Decline, Republican’s Demo Woes and Data Scientists for Nonprofits

What’s new this week? 
One Third Fewer Cat Pics
The average Facebook user posted a third less original content in 2016 than in 2015, reports Forbes (covering social media firm Mavrck’s new study). What’s behind the drop? Users aren’t leaving the platform, but they are using it “in different ways.” (Like arguing about politics with their relatives?)
What’s a Data Scientist, Anyway?
Fast Company named “data scientist” the #2 top job for non-profits in 2017. I think hiring a true “data scientist” (the kind that creates algorithms to, say, power Netflix’s recommendation engine) is out of reach for most non-profits. But knowing how to use data is a hot skill for any industry. <hint, hint>
Worst Week in Social Ads: Twitter or Facebook?
Not a good week for the social giants. So much for Twitter’s “Trump Bump.” This platform saw the first decline in ad revenue since the company went public in 2013, reports Fortune. And Facebook is facing an audit of its ad data after coming under fire in 2016 for misreporting metrics. Here’s the inside scoop on that mess. Oh, and Facebook announced that videos will play with the sound on. People aren’t happy.

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Bee Update: Analyzing Emojis, Feeding the Trolls and Discrimination Via Facebook Ads

What’s New This Week?

The Emoji Resistance
The revolution (well, the outpouring of anti-Trump frustration on social media) has an icon: the upraised fist emoji. How do we know this? Thank data scientist Hamdan Azhar who founded data journalism lab Prismoji. Azhar analyzed emoji use by the top protest hashtags, and found the fist to be “a signature emoji of progressive protest.”

Facebook’s Illegal Ad Problem
Last fall, Pro Publica pointed out that Facebook allows advertisers to exclude users – by race, gender and other protected categories – from seeing housing and employment ads. This goes against federal fair housing and employment laws. Facebook announced last week that they launched an automated system for dealing with this issue, reports Washington Post.

Playing to the Trolls
Outrage is an efficient marketing tactic, writes Ryan Holiday in Observer. And he makes a really good point. Angry tweets and media coverage are helping the alt-right trolls reach a broad audience… for free. The alt-right “doesn’t care that you hate them—they like it. It’s proof to their followers that they are doing something subversive and meaningful.” Interesting read.

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Bee Update: Gen X Hearts Social, Can’t Delete Data and Google’s Newly Free Tool

This week, I’m taking a break from Trump news. But I do want to share this Vice story (I highlighted a shorter New York Times piece a few weeks ago), and this rebuttal explaining why it’s not a big deal. But that’s all. Click at your own risk.

Will I Graduate? Let’s Look at the Data

In researching this newsletter, I find a lot of case studies.  Most explain how a company used data insights to increase sales. But This New York Times article is awesome because it looks at how universities use big data to predict graduation rates (and help students succeed).

“There is No Delete in the World of Data” 
Advocates are worried about data from NYC’s identification card program (mostly for the city’s immigrant population) being put to nefarious uses in the current political climate. FiveThirtyEight looks into what it takes to delete data. The above quote explains what they find.

Tweet That, Reality Bites 
Thanks, New York Times. This week we learned that millennials aren’t as bad as we all thought. It’s actually Gen Xers who spend the most time on social media. Ha!

Industry Updates
Ten Years of SEO in Five Minutes 
If you are looking for a quick understanding of SEO trends and the field’s major changes, this Forbes article provides a clear, concise recap.

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Data is Political, Non-Profit Benchmarks and Mapping TV Show Fans

In my experience, data is always political. There is power in having the numbers… and more in how you interpret them. But this week, the Trump administration flexed a frightening level of control over how data is shared with the public.

One Awful Week in Data (Politics)
On Monday, Washington Post covered White House press secretary Spicer’s avoidance of sharing a simple data point: the current unemployment rate. Then, the administration told the EPA and other federal agencies to stop talking to the press or posting on social media.  (A Badlands National Park employee responded by tweeting climate change data. #BadassBadlands)  Now, administration appointees are reviewing EPA data before it’s released to the public. I’m afraid for next week.

Who Needs Data When We Have “Alternative Facts”
Washington Post conducted their own experiment with aerial photos of the 2009 and 2017 inauguration crowds. I can’t recap it better than the reporter: “Even when the photographic evidence was directly in front of them and the question was straightforward, one in seven Trump supporters gave the clearly false answer.”

Inside the Industry
What’s Google Tag Manager, Anyway?
This blog post from analytics firm LunaMetrics does a great job of explaining what is Google Tag Manager and how it is used. (Hint: It’s not just the newest version of Google Analytics.)

Too Many Ads for Your Newsfeed. Let’s Move to Messenger
If you feel like your Facebook feed is all ads these days, Facebook’s with you. The social media giant is now testing ads in its mobile messaging app.

How Does Your Social Media Stack Up?
Clients often ask how their social presence compares other non-profit organizations. M+R’s annual benchmark study to the rescue.

Cool Visualization of the Week

Mapping the Culture Divide
Forget about the urban/rural divide. How about the Modern Family/Duck Dynasty divide? The New York Times mapped out the zip codes of Facebook users who “liked” certain TV shows, and they found top shows clustered into three groups with distinct geographic distributions. Awesome maps!