Social media stalking, we all do it or have all done it. It starts as a harmless review of a food blog which quickly turns into fanatic quest to check-in with old loves, friends and foes.
Without consent, social media tracking of any kind is stalking. As consumers, we do it all the time. And, in the corporate world, we also conduct our own version of stalking through insight tools. Insight tools such as Google Analytics are readily available and help companies gather rich insights into the lives of their customers. It does sound a little invasive, but this is perfectly legal and common practice because believe it or not, consumers have given their consent (they just don’t know it!).
In our world of research, it is very common to have colourful abuse hurled at you from angry consumers who swore they never consented to being contacted. The reality is that opting out is getting harder and harder and if you say ‘YES’ to one item such as receiving offers – you automatically are giving your consent to research too. Don’t believe us – check the privacy policy of your favourite brand.
Consent is a serious topic all over the world. It is at the heart of many major social and humanitarian issues today. But when, how and why have we got it so wrong in the digital world? Ashley Judd recently gave a powerful speech via Ted Talks on consent in the digital realm.
As researchers, we can attest to the power of insights gathered from social media analysis. Digital exploratory research is a type of ethnographic research where we observe the digital lives and behaviour of consumers rather than watching their physical and verbal cues.
How are we different?– we ask for consent and are 100% transparent. Surprisingly, with a small incentive consumers are happy to let us into their digital lives.
So what do we recommend? Ask for consent before you track and analyse your customers’ behaviour.
And remember, transparency = trust.
