Why Keywords Do Not Cut It on Social Search

sasha uritsky

Jul 22, 2014

Most of the online search is keywords-based. Same in social domain, a vast number of analytical tools, networking platforms and mobile apps use keyword-based technologies as well.

There is a difference, of course, between traditional internet search and social search. The former finds websites. The latter finds conversations, messages, posts. Keyword-based internet search is doing a decent job for us for over 20 years. Keyword-based social search is not doing a decent job at all.

Consider a basic example: finding on Twitter who is interested in buying jeans. We can start by typing ‘jeans’ but that brings up too much noise. Maybe ‘need jeans’? Less noise but then we people who use expressions like ‘looking for jeans’ or ‘want jeans’ or shopping for jeans’. Not to mention those who use ‘denim’, or brand names. So we have to run multiple searches or create a complex search string using logical AND and OR and hope it works. Neither option is simple, or convenient, and certainly not efficient.

The above example highlights the major flaw with keyword search - it does not capture the meaning of social conversations, and therefore cannot be a reliable source of information about conversations.

It does not provide too much of correct information. And it does provide lots of incorrect information. But the biggest problem is that it has extremely limited potential for improvement.

So as long as we stick with keyword-based social search the results are destined to be limited.

Why, then, we stick with keyword-based search in social search? Simply because there is no good alternative. Until recently, that is.

The advanced semantic technologies capable of capturing the meaning, or intent, of conversations are now offering an exciting alternative.

I will discuss these technologies on my next blog.

Interested in reading more? Check out our other blogs:

How nmodes Intent API Improves Social Intelligence

Social media generates a vast amount of data. There are 500 million daily messages on Twitter alone. Still more data on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and other social networks. Some of this data is useful to businesses, in fact, it is extremely useful.

A business can use social data to generate actionable insights about customers, competitors and their company strategy. Social information empowers departments and teams, and when used correctly, creates a strong sustainable bond between businesses and their customers.

nmodes Intent API helps businesses to execute their social strategy efficiently. Here are the major elements of social strategy Intent API contributes to:

1. Listening. Intent API finds customer intent with any level of granularity. You might want to know who is looking to buy shoes in general, or looking to buy flip-flops in particular, or interested in buying only Nike footware, or interested in buying sneakers in New York region.

2. Sales and marketing. Intent API understands what stage in the purchase process your customer is in. Intent API tells if a customer is ready to buy, or is in the awareness stage, or considering the purchase but not ready yet, and so on.

3. Social intelligence. Intent API delivers meaningful intents and behavioral information on a large scale and for all verticals. Any insights and topics, as long as somebody is conversing on this topic, are available.

4. Teams and projects. Intent API channels information to the relevant departments within the company. Sales prospects should go to sales department, complaints to customer service, brand conversations to the marketers, and technical issues to tech support.

AI: Our Only Weapon Against Climate Change?

Artificial Intelligence, more commonly referred to as simply AI, has been, since it’s early days, changing our lives in many ways. AI has become one of the greatest inventions of the human mind. When thinking of AI, we do not normally associate AI as being involved in helping farmers grow more crops to feed the exponentially growing population, or helping develop cancer treatment, or even keeping kids safe from trafficking and abuse by finding improper online activities. Instead we think of computers to phones, to self-driving cars and robots. However AI doesn’t just power the gadgets that we have grown so accustomed to in our daily lives, but it is increasingly being used to help solve impending social challenges.

One of these impending social issues is the quite literally hot topic – global warming. The challenges of global warming are growing by the day, as its impacts are becoming more severe and harder to manage. Melting ice caps, severe sever weather changes, extinction of species, are just a few of the consequences of the manmade climate change that is plaguing our world today. Despite widespread acceptance and awareness, the rate at which the world is embracing positive change is unfortunately not fast enough.

Fortunately there are many large companies that are setting an example by using AI to develop new ways in which to battle global warming. In fact, it seems as though AI is the only solution we have. It is helping us not only track and our present data, but also analyze our past data so that we can make informed decisions about the future. One such example is the use of AI to collect large amounts of data on land, animals, weather, ecosystems, etc… and organize it, so that scientists and governments can then determine what needs to be done, and the most cost effective ways to engage conservation methods.

We are quite surely seeing more and more AI initiatives being undertaken to help create a more eco-friendly world.

In order to reduce human influence on nature, increasing levels of human interference with natural processes are required” (Harvard University)

Whatever the downfalls of AI may be, its ability to help us against destroying our planet is perhaps its most important trait – because as hard as it may be to accept, our planet is dying and AI can help us prevent that.