Can Researchers Join The Social Video Party?

Social media has been a part of our lives for about
a decade now (maybe more if you were an avid MySpace or
Friendster user), but still there appear to be few research companies harnessing its true
power to get in touch with consumers and capture their opinions in real time.

On the topic of new social tech, there is an abundance of pushback. "What is the data telling me?" "How can it be coded/normalized/interpreted?" "Does it fit with our current approach?" "How can I filter inappropriate content?" -- these are just a few of the many valid concerns around using new media in research. Social data is unstructured, and doesn't give us access to probe users in the way we might
in our current research platforms, both in the qual and quant world.

But are we leaving something on the table? Can we leverage the fact that hundreds of millions of people are on Instagram, willing to share their lunch with you, show you what their #OOTD (Outfit Of The Day) is? Don't we want to know what consumers
are eating and wearing?

A newcomer on the social scene that has my gears turning is Periscope. The app lets users live stream video from their mobile device, and lets their followers on Twitter know when a broadcast begins. Could we tap into an app that is already gaining popularity (it made headlines for amassing 1 million users in only 10 days), and let the consumer tell us when she is ready to take us along for a
shopping trip, brush her teeth, or engage in whatever ritual/experience we are interested in?

There is no question that logistical issues abound, to which I say "bring it on". This is what we in the online MR space do daily -- tackle logistical and technical issues to get access to our consumers where they work, live, and play.

As an industry we are creative enough to sort out the logistics, and researchers everywhere should be paying attention to an app which, on its homepage, implores us to "Explore the world through someone else's eyes"