People Search

When we search for keywords, are we really searching for the people behind those words? I think that we are… We want to connect with people like us who will like us. There is a definite difference between the messages people convey on social networks and the people behind those messages. But how do we cut through it all to connect with the right people?

Netflix gave away $1M to a team of people who were able to improve their movie recommendation engine by 10%.

What if there was a way to find people you will like, as opposed to movie recommendations or significant others? So far we’ve kind of been piecing it together on our own. We’ve had to do it that way. I am a Minnesota Timberwolves fan, and after searching for a couple days almost a decade ago I came across a place for Minnesota Timberwolves fans. There are others out there, but I like that one the best. Same goes for other interests. After searching and through interaction over time, I am able to determine that I appreciate the viewpoints within a certain community over another.

Shouldn’t that be easier though?

If I’m a business, it’s relatively easy to find people talking about my existing product. It’s not so easy to find people thinking about my product. It’s also hard to find people who may think about my product but don’t because it doesn’t exist yet.

What Are Words For

I’ve been thinking about words ever since Kate Niederhoff linked to the LIWC in a post last week. The internets are full of them and they can be analyzed. Apparently, smart people have figured out a way to analyze a person’s Emotional Style, Social Style, and Analytical Style by the words that they use on-line.

I think that this has tremendous application in aggregate form and am working to convince others of it’s potential. If I’m able to correlate a keyword search, with a geography search, with a “people search,” over time… then I’m looking at a lot of information.

I don’t have my head around it fully yet, but I know that there is something there. Finding pockets of people interested in a specific topic who fit a specific signature could be marketing gold.

Hopefully I’m able to be persuasive enough…