Frequently Asked Questions

What’s your business model?

The business model for Swivel is pretty simple. If your data is public, then Swivel is free. If you want to keep your data private and secure within your company, then there's a monthly subscription fee.

What is the potential for accessible data?

Part of our mission here at Swivel is to make data accessible and useful, whether it’s for a private organization or for public consumption. From the corporate boardroom, to the voting booth, to the White House we envision a global community where people can share insights, become more informed, and make smarter decisions.

Why is Swivel so important?

With the recent explosion in the amount of data that organizations collect, the current state of the US economy, and President Obama's agenda to make government data more accessible, it's more important than ever to understand the numbers driving our companies and our country. So what's the hold up?

One part of problem is that while the amount of accessible data has grown, the number of experts has not. Giving a small handful of people the daunting task of understanding the world's data isn't just irresponsible; it's reckless. While experts analyze data in private, they understand it in public. Swivel recognizes the power of social collaboration and insight. So rather than having one person dole out bits and pieces of data, Swivel helps organizations share numbers and charts in a way that lets everyone contribute to the conversation.

The other piece to the puzzle is giving people the right tools to understand data collaboratively. As the social environment has shifted online, so has the way that people work with their data and with each other. Unfortunately, the tools we have today do not reflect this shift. Days, or even weeks, are spent shaping raw data into an understandable format that can be shared, creating unnecessary lag-time and inefficiency. Rather than sharing complicated spreadsheets and static dashboards, Swivel provides an on-demand social environment for sharing your data.

What are the benefits of using Swivel?

As a member of the Swivel community, you will have access to all of our public data. We make it easy to share data and graphs with others through email or posting them to your blog. You can add your insights to data sets by leaving comments and asking questions, whether the data comes from your next-door neighbor or the World Health Organization.

As a client of Swivel Business, you have access to all of our public data. In addition, you can upload private data to be shared among people in your organization. Swivel gives everyone in your organization on-demand access to the data, anytime, anywhere. Work with your team to gain new insights and discover what’s driving your bottom line.

How do we stand apart from our competitors?

We realize that people understand numbers in groups. Even after data is accessible, it needs to be understood before its actionable. Do you want all of that on the heads of just a few people? Or do you want everyone in your organization to engage in shaping the final conclusion?

So rather than giving your data experts another business intelligence tool to wrangle with the numbers, Swivel lets everyone in your organization understand the data, together. Plus, it’s inexpensive and everyone can learn the basics in just a few hours.

Another thing we think is revolutionary about Swivel is that our community straddles the public to private data continuum. On one hand, we support public data, where the community at large can upload compelling data and share insights. On the other, a private organization can use these same tools to run a smarter, more efficient business. We hope to build a bridge between public and private data, so that organizations are not only using internal data to make decisions, but also pulling from the public community to influence their decisions.

How does this whole collaborative insight thing work?

This answer is perhaps best illustrated with an example. One of our founders created a chart that shows the relationship between wine and violent crime; as the amount of wine consumed increased, the amount of violent crime decreased. As we all know, correlation does not imply causation, and the Swivel community came together to try and figure out what the common factor was. Through a community discussion that drew on insights from people of all different backgrounds, we were able to learn that the amount of disposable income in the economy could have an effect on both wine and violent crime.

We use Swivel internally to track our own company’s metrics from the time spent on the site to the number of unique visitors. If we see an interesting spike or an abrupt drop in the numbers, we can all come together to find out what caused the change. Whether it’s the IT guy who started using new tools for better performance, or the marketing gal who started a new campaign, each employee can add valuable insight to the conversation to discover what’s driving the bottom line.

What is your stance on how data should be provided?

In general, we think it's best if people provide data in as raw a form as possible (as long as it’s accessible). Data should be provided in an unfiltered and unaggregated way. Swivel may not be powerful enough to handle such data, but other tools can, and the community benefits most if the raw data is made available.

Isn't it a problem if anybody can access data that they don't understand? Won't they form the wrong conclusions?

At Swivel, we don’t necessarily believe there are wrong conclusions, only misinformed ones. And if someone is making a misinformed decision, chances are they probably didn’t have access to all the necessary information. (Do you think anyone would have bought subprime loans if they really knew what was going on?)

If someone doesn’t understand the data, Swivel is a great step towards helping them do so. We wanted to make it easy for people to ask questions, leave comments, and share insights. Because data is better understood when it’s out in the open for everyone to see and discuss together. With Swivel, you won’t just have more informed individuals, you’ll have a more informed organization.

Can I reprint Swivel graphs in my publication?

Yes. All public content on Swivel is licensed under Creative Commons, which means you are free to copy, distribute, and adapt the work as long as you attribute it to Swivel by citing a link to the original graph or data set. More information about our licensing is available here. If you have other questions, just drop us a line.

How do we know the data is reliable?

As with any information on the Internet, common sense may be the best judge of accuracy. In addition, all public data sets are required to have a cited source. Members can also provide a link to the data source for added accessibility.

Swivel also has an Official Source program, where we work with organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to make their data more widely available to a public audience. The Official Source badge lets members know that the data can be trusted because it’s coming directly from that organization.

How can I incorporate Swivel into my organization?

Whether you are a public organization looking to publish your data on the Web, or a private organization looking to make your business smarter, Swivel is a valuable asset to add to your existing data tools. Join us at www.swivel.com or contact us at support@swivel.com for more information.

You still didn’t answer my question!

Well, in that case, there are plenty of ways to contact us.

Email your questions to support@swivel.com and any feedback to feedback@swivel.com. Please send all press inquiries to press@swivel.com.

If we are online, you can send us an instant message on Yahoo! IM at teamswivel or on AIM at teamswivel.

You can also get help and tips from members of the Swivel community at the Swivel Help Google Group. You can also ask for data you're looking for on the Swivel Data Google Group.