What does social intelligence mean to you?
Despite the short time this practice has been around, its importance has nonetheless grown tremendously. There are numerous use cases I can list here. But every day, more and more companies are realizing they need to tap into the power of the world’s conversations. Because social intelligence is a key to understanding people and our environment better. It can help us understand simple things – like what people like and dislike. But it can also help us make good decisions and be more responsible as a result of what we learn about people.
What motivates you in your work? What makes you want to keep working in social intelligence?
We are in an interesting period of time in which new innovations in data science and access to new sources of qualitative and quantitative information are coming together. It’s the perfect place to play when it comes to innovation. I’m a natural tinkerer – and at Nichefire we look for tinkerers as well. We like to understand how things work and we strive for better ways to solve problems. And social intelligence satisfies that side of me along with my genuine curiosity about how people tick. Being in the startup realm gives me this sense of ownership in how I do things as well. It gives me so much flexibility in how we can tackle problems because rather than needing to conform to an existing set of tools, we are inventing new tools.
What do you think makes you successful in your work?
I personally believe success is difficult to achieve without interest or passion in the work you do. I genuinely love this stuff and I love talking with others in this space about it. It’s also the people I work with and the people I connect with that make me successful in my work. My team at Nichefire drives me forward. And its communities like the Social Intelligence Lab that bring us all together to talk about the importance of our work and to become better advocates. Without this kind of support and community, we’d all be floating around in the ether, trying to get support on our projects!
What are the key skills that have contributed to your success?
Now, my experiences likely differ from many of the brilliant individuals on this list because of my nature of founding a startup – but I hope this answer resonates! In my opinion, grit is very much the key to success when it comes to skills. Resilience and the gumption to continue forward are critical in a startup setting. I can’t even count the number of critical tough times my team and I have had with Nichefire. The adage “fail hard and fail fast” are truly words to keep in mind because the failures and lessons along the way are your roadmaps to success – but it’s up to you to follow those roadmaps.
What makes social data special compared to other data sources?
Social data has this unique characteristic about it where it can answer many of the questions we have about people without even needing to ask them. Billions of conversations are at our fingertips. And we’ve never fathomed that sort of power until the advent of social media. Is this the only data source companies need? No. But united with other sources – such as our survey data, search data, web traffic, etc. – we get closer and closer to the full picture of the voice of the consumer.
What does being a social intelligence pioneer mean in the context of your work?
Being a pioneer to me means:
- a) helping solve a prominent problem in this line of work to help other researchers do their job more effectively;
- b) delivering a new way of doing this research so we can reach the next milestone in social intelligence.
I believe we are just at the beginning here when it comes to innovation in social intelligence. We are in a renaissance of innovation when it comes to advances in data science and the accessibility of diverse data sources. Being a pioneer means jumping in to help move this trend forward and I certainly hope I’m making an impact with my work at Nichefire!
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