I just happened onto this very current article about mapping the spread of the coronavirus 19 and Mapping coronavirus, responsibly.
This article is talking about some of the kinds of distortions that mapping software can produce because we are mapping the nearly spherical earth onto a flat page. In particular, it's talking about how one's intuitions are getting influenced by these and other changes. Below is a wild example. What would you make out of a "chart" like this? How would this influence your intuitions your thinking about the risk of catching the virus? Would something like this have an impact on policy?
Have a read of the article to get a better understanding of using map charts responsibly.
Below is an example of an irresponsible map.
This is a great read, thank you for sharing!I think that the blue chloropleth - the one adjusted to show to the scale - is actually significantly easier to understand at first glance than the bar chart. Many readers won't spend much more time with a graph than the initial first glance, and I think that's an important consideration.
The one that you pulled out here is wild and even as someone pretty skilled at reading weird visualizations, I don't really understand what it's trying to tell me.
Maery Simmons (Past Member)
I do agree that I choose the most click bate graphic of all of the items in the article. And yes, it has no scale, and is all sorts of BAD.
But it is a very good article. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
--Tom