Use of screens among young children

Since today is World Television Day (yes, there really is a day for everything!), I thought that I would share with you some findings from the report “The Common Sense Census: Media Use By Kids Age Zero To Eight’, looking at media use by young children in the US. You can access the report here. … Continue reading Use of screens among young children

Three advantages of Twitter’s extended characters limit

After trialling it out with a handful of users, Twitter has increased the maximum length of tweets from 140 characters to 280, for all users. Some people expressed concern over how the additional capacity will be used by the trolls and harassers that litter the platform. Others have talked about the creative challenge … Continue reading Three advantages of Twitter’s extended characters limit

My PhD, 10 years on

This month (November 5th to be exact) marked the 10th anniversary of my PhD viva. I did my PhD at LSE with Dr James Backhouse, and investigated the profiling of undesirable customers (or customer screening). I looked at how organisations define who is a desirable customer, and who isn’t one; and the process that they … Continue reading My PhD, 10 years on

September and October 2017 round-up

I did not write a round-up post last month because I only “realised” that September had ended when we were well and truly into October. I think that every month should have some sort of celebration on its last day, like October has Halloween. Isn’t it great to end the month on a festive note … Continue reading September and October 2017 round-up

Book review: Paul Silvia’s How to Write a Lot

This is a short book (only 149, A5 pages), targeted at those that need to write in an academic context – papers, books, grant proposals, etc… As promised by the book’s full title - “How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing” – this book offers guidance on how to be … Continue reading Book review: Paul Silvia’s How to Write a Lot

Which branded tweets get most retweets?

Researchers at Western Sydney University in Australia – Alena Soboleva, Suzan Burton, Girijasankar Mallik and Aila Khan – have analysed the characteristics of branded tweets that get the most retweets. They collected tweets posted by the leading brands in the automotive, the luxury and the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries, and adjusted for factors … Continue reading Which branded tweets get most retweets?

Using wearables is all about control. And so is not using them.

The short video below presents two extreme cases of attitudes towards using wearables. On the one hand, we have Thomas who monitors multiple aspects of his daily life, from food intake to movement, and even built a wearable to track his sneezes. On the other hand, we have Emma, who firmly rejects using wearables even … Continue reading Using wearables is all about control. And so is not using them.

Emotion analysis for real time interactions

Emotions influence how we interpret situations, what we do, and even how we remember them. Thus, emotions are a very important driver of how consumers behave and why. Because of this importance, there has been a growth in the number of products that promise to scan online conversations (e.g., in social networks, or on product … Continue reading Emotion analysis for real time interactions

TED talk: blind faith in big data must end

Super interesting and short talk by Cathy O'Neil about What is an algorithm Why they are subjective, flawed and unfair How they can have disastrous effects in people’s lives How they perpetuate the past and historical discrimination Why they are so difficult to scrutinise And, thus, why we can not have blind faith in big … Continue reading TED talk: blind faith in big data must end