Big Data, Big Questions| Metaphors of Big Data

Authors

  • Cornelius Puschmann Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
  • Jean Burgess ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries & Innovation Queensland University of Technology

Keywords:

data, big data, conceptual metaphor, semantics, science, technology, discourse analysis

Abstract

Metaphors are a common instrument of human cognition, activated when seeking to make sense of novel and abstract phenomena. In this article we assess some of the values and assumptions encoded in the framing of the term big data, drawing on the framework of conceptual metaphor. We first discuss the terms data and big data and the meanings historically attached to them by different usage communities and then proceed with a discourse analysis of Internet news items about big data. We conclude by characterizing two recurrent framings of the concept: as a natural force to be controlled and as a resource to be consumed.

Author Biographies

Cornelius Puschmann, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

Visiting Fellow

Jean Burgess, ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries & Innovation Queensland University of Technology

Associate Professor

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Published

2014-06-16

Issue

Vol. 8 (2014)

Section

Special Sections

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