I’m reading a lot on this topic and I cannot understand it
In: Technology
Big data is basically what it says: loads and loads and loads of data.
In very simple terms, it is the process of collecting, storing, and analysing vast vast amounts of data for a particular purpose. For example, if you had a way of tracking every single fish in the sea, you would be able to learn huge amounts about sea currents, migratory patterns, fishing impact, etc.
It has become a buzzword recently because advances in storage space means we can store far more data than before, advances in computer science mean we can design much better algorithms for analysing data, advances in computer hardware mean we can have much more powerful computers to run those advanced algorithms, and advances in other technology mean it is much easier to collect data.
It has also gained a lot of focus in the public eye, as it is often linked with the collection of people’s personal data by big tech companies and/or governments. For example, Facebook collects huge huge amounts of data on the behaviours on individuals online, collected from all sorts of sources such as Facebook itself, your browsing habits, your shopping history, etc etc. It uses this data to learn all sorts about you (and others), and can e.g. sell your profile to advertising companies or others. Facebook and others can also look at the data in bigger chunks, to learn all sorts of insights about how larger populations behave and act.
You will also find it linked up with other buzzwords such as “AI” or “machine learning”. This is because those technologies (or linked technologies that are mis-labelled as them) often underpin the newest and most advanced algorithms used to analysing data.
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