Michael Marshall in evancarmichael.com explores some fascinating examples of implications of the increasing use of the semantic web. He explores the issues surrounding fraud, SOE and spamming, associated with tagging. Expect this to become a real issue soon as where new developments go, not far behind is someone trying to make a quick buck.
I was also very impressed with his view on tagging and truth/fact and its relative perception. The semantic web will rely on a sub-level of information providing an additional layer of information (through tags) in tandem with with web page information. In effect this information, or tags, tell the computer what the page ‘means’. Michael Marshall makes the point that who is going to inspect the tags to make sure they are correct. This is very relevant to the measurement of online media.
While we should never expect perfect information; the hope is the semantic web will permit more accurate, intelligent searching and data interpretation. In the world of media measurement could this lead to computers undertaking more of the qualitative tasks we currently reserve for humans? This helps illustrate some of the challenges for auto-evaluation, and I hope undermines those who say they currently have an automated process for undertaking qualitative measurement.
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