I spent some time yesterday playing with the YouGov Profiler which is a tool from the polling organisation that makes a set of demographic information available.
It’s more fun than serious research, but it’s compelling all the same.
A colleague pointed out to me that he, as a Bob Dylan fan, was a lot younger than the 60+ demographic, and isn’t from the West Country. I’m not sure I can see him eating Dorset Blue Vinney Cheese either, but that’s part of the fun of demographics.
When I see tools like this I like to remind myself that it used to take weeks to process data like this in its raw form without anything like as nice a presentation.
It’s also a reminder that information is no longer power, because information is free, it’s relationship that is power.