the difference between trends and insights

If nothing else, Twitter is the most effective way of following trends in real time. It's like watching a brook turn into a white water rapid as ideas, topics, arguments gather or lose momentum amongst the connected world.

Here is a really cool visualisation of the world saying 'good morning'

GoodMorning! First Render from blprnt on Vimeo.

The thing is though, there is a stark difference between identifying a trend and identifying an insight or an opportunity for a brand to add value. Trends are merely patterns of behaviour and have little relevance to a brand unless they can be utilised.

Jer Thorp sums it up really nicely with the last line of his post on the project

"I’m guessing that in the hands of people with more than my rudimentary statistics skills, these kinds of data sets could tell us some interesting – and (heaven forbid) useful things."

So this is where the planner comes in, turning the noise into a fully functioning orchestra.