Infographics: Increasing Our Knowledge or Making Us Dumber?

Infographics seem to be everywhere online, attached to articles and reblogged with great frequency, and off a common feature in database dashboards and reports. This past week, Dave Copeland tackled the inforgraphic in his March 21^st post, "Why Your Infographic Is Evil (And Three Ways To Fix It),"on the technology blog ReadWriteWeb.

In his post, Copeland confesses that while infographics can convey data powerfully, “this latest visual Internet fad of telling almost every story with a dense infographic is something that [he’s] hoping will soon be played out.” Copeland quotes Jasmine Bina of JB Communications as pointing out that “[w]e are becoming numb to infographics.” Bina goes on to explains that while she once welcomed the infographics that popped up on her newsfeed as “as an informational 'treat' because [she] knew the author had used the medium only because it most effectively displayed the information,” it appears to her that since “people have realized the traffic-generating powers of these things, every dumb report with an ounce of usable info is puffed into these massive images.”  A quick perusal of my own newsfeed revealed a great number of these infographics, some relevant (the impact of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), some less so (the increase in digital pictures taken by Americans in 2009, 2010, and 2011).

As people’s attention spans seem to decrease as our quick access to information increases, it makes sense that infographics would be an almost necessary-evil in conveying data. Why read several pages of a report when four or five images can provide a graphic representation just as easily? Until the popularity of infographics wanes, Copeland has a strategy:  three ways to improve the use of inforgraphics, “whether you're a blogger looking for content or a public relations firm looking to get your client's message out.” While arts organizations are not necessarily bloggers, they do have a message to get out, whether on their own or through a PR firm. Arts organizations should thus bear in mind Copeland’s three fixes for infographics:  the accuracy of the information matters, it is often necessary to have text (clear, concise, information expanding text) to accompany the infographic, and in terms of size and content, the infographic should be short and sweet.

Read the entire post at http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why_your_infographic_is_evil_and_three_ways_to_fix.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+readwriteweb+%28ReadWriteWeb%29.

-Adrienne