Few people would place data management on par with the Paris to Dakar rally when it comes to thrills and adventure. But, to retired data-scientist turned rally driver, Roland Rijpma the mountains of data created by the explosive growth of the social media were becoming just as exciting as the arid dunes of north Africa.
It was a research thesis by university student Thomas Slabbers that tipped the balance in the favor of data, and set the stage for Roland’s “un-retirement”.
Founder Thomas Slabbers
The paper: You are who you follow — A deeper analysis of how people act on Twitter crystalized Roland’s thoughts on the unprecedented opportunity presented by the rapidly growing amounts of publicly available data generated by the social media.
BACK IN THE DAYS AT THE GARAGE
In July 2013, Roland, Thomas, and data engineer Peter Versteegen joined forces to found Socialdatabase. Beginning with publicly accessible Twitter data, it was not long before their data-complexity approach to analytics proved to be uniquely successful at generating fact-backed insights, and defining behaviorally predictive audiences.
Soon Socialdatabase’s servers were running 24/7, devouring, re-categorizing, and analyzing massive amounts of data. By 2015 this unprecedented appetite for data had not gone unnoticed by Twitter who asked for an explanation.
At a meeting in Twitter’s San Francisco HQ Thomas explained how Socialdatabase had downloaded, completely restructured, and analyzed the Twitter database. Twitter was surprised by the size, and effectiveness of this data restructuring. They immediately recognized that Socialdatabase had such a clear understanding of the Twitter database. Twitter was more than impressed. Rather than objecting to this as an overstep, the result of the meeting was an invitation to become a Twitter ads API partner. This opened doors to even more of Twitter's database, and with that, even deeper understanding.
Since 2013 Socialdatabase has grown from a single server, to a database of over 23 trillion structured data points. Today we are a Twitter Official Partner. With offices in Amsterdam, New York and Dubai, we deliver tailored audiences and insights to clients including Twitter, Google, Nike, Heineken, Philips, Nutricia, Samsung, and Slack.
Thomas Slabbers continues to run daily operations from Amsterdam, while Roland Rijpma focuses on improving, and enlarging our database, and keeping his entrepreneurial eyes open for the next exciting opportunity.
"Let's see if we can use big data to make the world a little bit better."
Favorite social account:
I would like to see a green world where everyone has enough to eat.
@justdiggit
And also:
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Duco Janssen
COO
"Impact = Content x Data. We will take care of the data ;)"
Favorite social account:
I really like the content they share.
@F1
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Joran Cornelisse
Director of Technology
"In today's omnipresence of social media, content rapidly becomes obsolete. We are thrilled that we can use our data skills to enhance relevancy for users on disparate platforms."
Favorite social account:
Next to data science and programming, I enjoy watching and playing football. Being from Amsterdam, my favourites are somewhat biased.
@AFCAjax & @DeJongFrenkie21
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Ingrid Doesburg
Director of Operations
"Creating the right audience for the customer in a continuing changing world."
Favorite social account:
It's an account about living with pubers, it makes me realize that my chaotic life is quite normal with pubers in the house. It gives me with humor and recognizable tweets the right perspective back again.
@tshiergeenhotel
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Maarten van der Putten
Head of North America & Business Development
“You don’t learn to walk by following rules, you learn to walk by falling all over.”
Favorite social account:
For news.
@WSJ
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Nina Wehneman
Marketing Manager
"Strategizing and optimizing campaign launches with Superaudiences to ensure global brands are successful on Twitter makes my work really exciting."
Favorite social account:
Besides being the author of my favorite cookbooks, her podcast brings open discussions about all things business, health and well-being.
@DeliciouslyElla
And also:
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Peter van Kampen
Infra & Ops
"I like to make stuff."
Favorite social account:
Funny, kind and positive.
@richardosman
And also:
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Micha de Haan
Business Development EMEA
“If something is important enough, even if the odds are stacked against you, you should still do it.” – Elon Musk
Favorite social account:
@CookingChannel
And also:
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Pim Bergsma
Business Development EMEA
"I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it." - Bill Gates
Favorite social account:
I like to play sports and to stay fit!
@rogerfederer
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Judith Mennens
HR & Finance
"As allrounder you can ask me anything. I am happy to serve you and to improve our office services, projects and finance processes to continue our high service level every day."
Favorite social account:
For news.
@NUnl
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Henry Zweers
Audience Creator
"Really like to analyse the data and see and find out what we can do with it."
Favorite social account:
He is a great guy and an inspiration to many, above all real down to earth with an interesting look at life.
@jm130tt
And also:
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Maureen Burton
Business Development EMEA
"I enjoy building relationships with our clients and helping them find the best audiences to achieve their goals."
Favorite social account:
I like to be reminded of the many beautiful corners on the planet and dream one day I'll see them all.
@NatGeoTravel
And also:
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Chiel Heldoorn
Infra & Ops
"Losing is not an option, you either win or learn."
Favorite social account:
This podcast makes you want to watch every moment of possibly one of the most boring sports: cycling.
@DeRodeLantaarn
And also:
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Fares El Masri
Business Development MENA
“I help souls find souls.”
Favorite social account:
The way I like to know what’s happening.
@joerogan
And also:
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Lars Griekspoor
Marketing & Design
"Working with data and making amazing stuff with a group of people who love the same things."
Favorite social account:
In my opinion he's one of the greatest speakers and his way of thinking is inspiring whatever you do in life.
@TonyRobbins
And also:
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Gerben Wolters
Tech Support
"Plan Do Check Act", Curious, Cynical and Holistic while keeping the Complexity as simple as possible."
Favorite social account:
And also:
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Rocio Villares Balseiro
Paid Social Manager
"It never gets easier, you just get better."
Favorite social account:
They share a lot of content related with visual arts and it is a source of inspiration and a room for creativity.
@plastik
And also:
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Xam Mouthaan
Personal Development
"Tell me; what's the motto with you?"
Favorite social account:
How interesting a talk can be.
@TEDTalks
And also:
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Doeke de Wolf
Frontend Developer
Favorite social account:
And also:
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Carolinde Freundenberg
HR & Finance
"I love it when a plan comes together!"
Favorite social account:
This guy is the best! Not only making positive and funny content every day, but he's also doing a lot of good for people in need.
@bassmit
And also:
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Luisa Zimmermann
Paid Social Manager
Favorite social account:
And also:
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Thomas Dekker
Audience Creator
"My goal is to simplify complexity." - Jack Dorsey
Favorite social account:
They show you the latest news and look at social-cultural topics from a different perspective. I also enjoy the books they publish a lot.
@decorrespondent
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Claire Amson
Audience Creator
"The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists."
Favorite social account:
First getting up to date @TwitterData, then getting smiles from @SpongeBob.
@TwitterData & @SpongeBob
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Yuri Ueda
Business Development Japan & APAC
"Stay hungry, stay foolish!"
Favorite social account:
Being in the social media industry, some of the content is hysterically (and painfully) relatable, but it's also insightful to know about the latest social tech news & updates, insights from people in relevant fields and understanding the landscape of different platforms and markets.
@WorkInSociaI
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Taco Remkes
Personal Development
"I would like to help you realize your dream within Socialdatabase."
Favorite social account:
He is my idol since childhood and I would like to learn from him.
@TigerWoods
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Boet Rijnders
Audience Creator
"There's no such thing as a free ride"
Favorite social account:
Very funny guy.
@JeremyClarkson
And also:
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Reshma Remesh
Business Development India
"Magic happens only to those who believe in it."
Favorite social account:
I enjoy travel, adventure and being around animals.
@NatGeoTravel & @NatGeo
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Jelger Algra
Audience Creator
"Sports do not build a character, they reveal it."
Favorite social account:
I like this account because I have always dreamed of playing in this baseball league.
@MLB
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Patrick van Rietschoten
Software Developer
Favorite social account:
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Lucas Prieto
Data Scientist
"I work on Deep Learning methods to find patterns in very large networks."
Favorite social account:
Insightful ideas on everything from Deep Learning to Music.
@fchollet
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Anca Axinoiu
Audience Creator
"It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting."
Paulo Coelho
Favorite social account:
It shows interesting stories and visuals of the past.
@Historydefined
And also:
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Jaïr Klaver
Paid Social Manager
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, sacrifice, and most of all, a love for what you are doing.”
Favorite social account:
I like learning new trivia and they post new fun facts and stories every day.
@mental_floss
And also:
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Kalyani
Backend Developer
"Set a goal to achieve something that is so big, so exhilarating that it excites you and scares you at the same time."
Bob proctor
Favorite social account:
Being a python enthusiast I love to keep updated with what's trending in the python world.
