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What Is “Digital Dust” and Should We Worry About Ours?
Dust, by its very existence, is literally the most material of things. It’s what is left of an object when all form, structure, context and legibility are stripped away — when the object is destroyed, and only the fact of its materiality remains.
Therefore, dust would seem to be the antithesis of digital, the opposite of its binary 0s and 1s. Digital means data, virtual and immaterial; it’s black and white, crisply demarcated, perfectly defined. Dust is grey, and deeply, existentially fuzzy.
However, according to Gartner’s latest report on 2021 Top Strategic Technology Trends the huge rise in connected devices is leaving a digital ‘trace’ or ‘dust’ behind users in terms of preferences, emotions and behaviours. Welcome to the internet of behaviour!’.
The Internet of Behaviour (IOB)
The Internet of Behaviour captures our “digital dust” from a variety of sources which businesses and brands can then leverage to influence our behaviour. The technology that puts all the data together and draws insight is growing increasingly sophisticated.
Just take a look at Monzo or Starling or Revolut — some of the online and mobile-first…
