We can see the progress Borg Collective has made already with Hive, an online tool that users can use to identify Twitter communities using a keyword, and see who among the key profiles involved holds the greatest attention and sway. Hive’s touted as a demo of what’s in the Borg Collective pipeline.

Whilst using algorithms to identify clusters of online communities is nothing new in the research community, it’s a tool that hasn’t really been commercially released. Not only would it serve as a buzzy tonic for the current hot-button topic of the credibility issue on social media, it would also work neatly alongside recent marketing tech efforts to help link up brands with the most valuable online influencers. So it will certainly be interesting to see what's in store for Borg Collective and Hive next.