Fiona的新聞英語：Big data analysis是英國脫歐川普當選的推進器嗎？

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/big-data-cambridge-analytica-brexit-trump

英國脫歐以及川普當選的共同點是什麼？他們都雇用同一間big data分析公司--Cambridge Analytica。

這間公司怎麼來的？Michal Kosinski是一位波蘭的學生，2008年他到劍橋攻讀博士學位。但是他說 Cambridge Analytica跟他沒有關係。

他當初用臉書上提供的個人資料，搭配psychometrics 心理測驗，設計出一套超準人格特質預測方法，甚至連你父母有沒有離異都看得出來！

這個心理測驗法一般是叫OCEAN，或是叫The Big Five，因為它會測驗五個特色：

openness (how open you are to new experiences?)
conscientiousness (how much of a perfectionist are you?)
extroversion (how sociable are you?)
agreeableness (how considerate and cooperative you are?) 
neuroticism (are you easily upset?)

從這五點，再加上臉書的資料，Kosinski說他比你的同事、朋友、甚至另一半都還了解你。

(以下英文很重要，不要看到是英文就跳過。）

The strength of their modeling was illustrated by how well it could predict a subject’s answers. Kosinski continued to work on the models incessantly: before long, he was able to evaluate a person better than the average work colleague, merely on the basis of ten Facebook “likes.” Seventy “likes” were enough to outdo what a person’s friends knew, 150 what their parents knew, and 300 “likes” what their partner knew. More “likes” could even surpass what a person thought they knew about themselves. On the day that Kosinski published these findings, he received two phone calls. The threat of a lawsuit and a job offer. Both from Facebook.

這個研究後來怎麼會變成造成脫歐跟川普當選的big data祕密武器？這是因為Kosinski跟一位名為 Aleksandr Kogan的教授合作，這位教授跟一間election management company有合作關係。

這間公司叫　SCL, or Strategic Communication Laboratories. 這間公司很神祕，但看來來頭不小。

What Kosinski did not know at the time: SCL is the parent of a group of companies. Who exactly owns SCL and its diverse branches is unclear, thanks to a convoluted corporate structure, the type seen in the UK Companies House, the Panama Papers, and the Delaware company registry. Some of the SCL offshoots have been involved in elections from Ukraine to Nigeria, helped the Nepalese monarch against the rebels, whereas others have developed methods to influence Eastern European and Afghan citizens for NATO. And, in 2013, SCL spun off a new company to participate in US elections: Cambridge Analytica.

英國脫歐公投的脫歐派以及川普都有雇用這間公司幫忙競選。當時沒有什麼人在乎，Clinton邊的覺得這是英國公司，怎麼可能懂美國政治？

文章接下來說明 Cambridge Analytica如何使用big data於他們的競選活動上。

讓人很憂慮的一點是，他們會在臉書上針對特定族群釋放特定廣告，這些廣告其它人看不到。

These “dark posts”—sponsored Facebook posts that can only be seen by users with specific profiles—included videos aimed at African-Americans in which Hillary Clinton refers to black men as predators, for example.

Big data可以用在行銷商業產品，也可以用在行銷政治理念。如果同學想試一下，可以到以下這個連結的最後一個項目 You are what you like: Facebook persona test。

我剛剛試用的時候，是顯示錯誤訊息，應該是這一篇文章發表之後（一月28號），很多人在試，可以稍後再試。


https://discovermyprofile.com/tag/Fun%20Tests