text: Sharing, and not really caring – why social analytics matter | ADMA
  Also, while character limits make social data a little more difficult to analyse owing to the widespread use of abbreviations, the length and format limitations encourage people to cut to the chase and leave out the social niceties that can obscure meaning. Making it a more potent barometer of sentiment than other more considered responses.
  According to Steve Lockwood, measurement & insight lead, Australia & NZ, Facebook, "Traditional data sources can be either expensive, inaccurate or biased, or a combination of each of these limitations."
  "Social data across Facebook surfaces real interests, characteristics and behaviours of real people."
  But fragmenting media and changing consumer behaviour have crippled traditional monitoring methods, she suggests. "Market research can provide companies with a snapshot of how a small sample group perceives a product at a moment in time, but social media data sentiment analysis is more akin to a continuous video.
  "Word-of-mouth is now available on the web: opinions on anything are expressed in reviews, forums, consumer sites such as amazon.com, trip advisor.com and blogs for instance."
  "We know many advertisers are reliant on utilising Twitter data as part of their focus group process. Many advertisers will tweak or change their ads entirely based on feedback they're hearing from Twitter," a company spokesperson said.
  Social data helps brands understand customers on a personal level, get to know their likes and dislikes via unfiltered channels. It enables companies to personalise and tailor their messaging to suit their customers in real-time.