Saving Big Data from Big Mouths - Scientific American

Check the full post for some detailed counter-FUD measures (via @Datameer)

"But little of this hype has come from the actual people working with large data sets. Instead, it has come from people who see “big data” as a buzzword and a marketing opportunity—consultants, event organizers and opportunistic academics looking for their 15 minutes of fame.
 
Most of the recent criticism, however, has been weak and misguided. Naysayers have been attacking straw men, focusing on worst practices, post hoc failures and secondary sources. The common theme has been to a great extent obvious: “Correlation does not imply causation,” and “data has biases.”
 
Critics of big data have been making three important mistakes:"

Saving Big Data from Big Mouths - Scientific American