Data Abuse creeping into Asia’s tech ecosystem

Data is becoming more ubiquitous, and this is affecting how companies big and small conduct sales and direct their marketing efforts. It has even made its way into political punditry, as Nate Silver stunningly demonstrated during the 2012 US Presidential Elections when he correctly predicted the winner in all 50 states.

These data-driven approaches are the results of a new way of thinking called data-ism, which is defined by New York Times columnist David Brooks as a set of assumptions about how “everything that can be measured should be measured; that data is a transparent and reliable lens that allows us to filter out emotionalism and ideology; that data will help us do remarkable things — like foretell the future.”

But like every new buzzword out there, data-ism can be misused and misinterpreted. Such Data Abuse involves the use of data and bullshit metrics as a marketing tool to mislead the press and the public.

Increasingly, entrepreneurs, investors, the media, and marketers in Asia and around the world are involved in this to give the impression that they’re on the cutting edge.

It’s a trick that has been existing in the marketer’s playbook for ages — in author Naomi Klein’s book No Logo, she writes about how corporations have smartly adopted and commercialized emerging sub-cultures into their marketing efforts, milking the proverbial cow for all its worth.

The same thing that has happened with the environmental movement is now happening with data-ism. And it could get worse: As the costs of collecting, visualizing, and distributing information becomes lower, Data Abuse could increase.

Creating news out of nothing

As an editor, I receive a lot of requests from startups that want to be featured. Yet too often, in an attempt to clock press mileage, these companies peddle what Analytics firm Mixpanel and its investor Andreessen Horowitz call “bullshit metrics”.

They talk about the number of downloads or registered users an app has garnered, but these data doesn’t provide an accurate picture of how engaging it is. Worst of all are companies boasting about having thousands or millions of “users” — when the term could pretty much mean anything.

While I understand that it doesn’t serve a company’s interest to reveal every factoid about its performance — unless you’re a frontrunner like Kakao — I think a better balance can be struck.

Startups aren’t the only ones involved in Data Abuse. Public relations firms and marketers are doing it as well. For a time, I was on the receiving end of some pretty inane infographics and so-called studies purported to reveal some counter-intuitive insight. Many of these studies are sent by some of the largest tech firms in the world.

Yet it’s clear that many of these information are guilty of dubious or unclear methodology that wouldn’t stand up to public scrutiny.

The media: Partners in crime