https://hdl.handle.net/10419/182419 Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:56:46 GMT 2026-10-24T13:56:46Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/233547 Title: Consumer data research Editors: Longley, Paul A.; Cheshire, James; Singleton, Alexander D. Abstract: Big Data collected by customer-facing organisations - such as smartphone logs, store loyalty card transactions, smart travel tickets, social media posts, or smart energy meter readings - account for most of the data collected about citizens today. As a result, they are transforming the practice of social science. Consumer Big Data are distinct from conventional social science data not only in their volume, variety and velocity, but also in terms of their provenance and fitness for ever more research purposes. The contributors to this book, all from the Consumer Data Research Centre, provide a first consolidated statement of the enormous potential of consumer data research in the academic, commercial and government sectors - and a timely appraisal of the ways in which consumer data challenge scientific orthodoxies. Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/233547 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/182435 Title: Social media in emergent Brazil: How the Internet affects social mobility Authors: Spyer, Juliano Abstract: Since the birth of the internet, low-income Brazilians have received little government support to help them access it. In response, they have largely self-financed their digital migration. Internet cafés became prosperous businesses in working-class neighbourhoods and rural settlements, and, more recently, families have aspired to buy their own home computer with hire purchase agreements. As low-income Brazilians began to access popular social media sites in the mid-2000s, affluent Brazilians ridiculed their limited technological skills, different tastes and poor schooling, but this did not deter them from expanding their online presence. Young people created profiles for barely literate older relatives and taught them to navigate platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp. Based on 15 months of ethnographic research, this book aims to understand why low-income Brazilians have invested so much of their time and money in learning about social media. Juliano Spyer explores this question from a number of perspectives, including education, relationships, work and politics. He argues that social media is the way for low-income Brazilians to stay connected to the family and friends they see in person on a regular basis, which suggests that social media serves a crucial function in strengthening traditional social relations. Sun, 01 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/182435 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z