Heading full-steam into 2017, we are often reminded of how important data plays a role in our everyday lives. Whether we are out in our car adhering to the directions on our smart phones, reading recent (true or false data) posts on our favorite social site, or even online shopping, data has become an integral part of our existence. If we are to look at just social media globally, connected people are consuming almost 2 hours a day online, as reported by Statista.
Today, the public is consuming an enormous amount of data, and we are not even sure that it is accurate. In reports left and right, people are beginning to realize that a portion of the information that they receive is fraudulent or untrue. This means that it has become increasingly important to understand the contextual deception of what is being presented. As the NYTimes mentions, Deception,’ as philosophers say, is a ‘success term.’ But that’s only halfway there. Deception can happen even without false belief. Meaning, when being deceived you may not believe that what you are seeing is untrue. Therefore, it is crucial to identify deception, and eliminate it to improve the quality of information.
In the worst case scenario, if you are a business, an introduction of false information on your product or service can have detrimental effects on the brand experience of your end users. The digital ecosystem plays an important role in the communication of data to a vast audience, but the filtering of that data is necessary because the repercussions can have resounding effects.
For example, false news or fraudulent products have recently played a key role in the US elections and in ecommerce globally. The result for businesses can include the loss of clients or the devaluation of their products or services by the end user. In particular, ecommerce platforms have had a clear challenge of reducing and eliminating fraudulent material, because as CNBC reported at the end of 2016, counterfeiting has exploded this year. Imports of counterfeit and pirated goods amount to nearly a half a trillion dollars a year, or around 2.5% of global imports (OECD). In this continued era of falsified data, which can lead to the sale of fraudulent materials and the reduction of company brand value, it is imperative to implement solutions to eliminate or reduce their presence.
Technology can help in the betterment of your brand by serving as a 24-hour guard to identify, engage, and monitor digital fraud of your valued products globally. And with the inclusion of artificially intelligent solutions, businesses can gain the highest level of authentication, learning from internal and external data to stay ahead of deceptive product images or text.
The increasing consumption of data on digital platforms will continue to evolve in 2017, and so will that of duplicitous information or products. In this transformative year, the strength of technology getting smarter can serve in the creation of vigilant strategies, key to reinforcing brand value.
