As a journalist and avid internet consumer myself, I found the documentary Journalism in the Age of Data to be an interesting and insightful look into today’s absorption of information online. Obviously, as others have said, the internet is growing rapidly, even in the three years since the documentary was filmed. We can go on the internet and find what we’re looking for in the blink of an eye. Everything we want, whether it’s for a school project, or for our personal enjoyment, can be found just a click away.
The problem, as some have noted, is that with this capability comes an increased scrutiny of the sites we visit. If we feel as though a site is not up to par, we will simply click to another, competing site, provided by a search engine, that will give us what we need. Often, it’s as simple as picking a site that provides us with relevant, oversimplified content. We cannot understand or interpret overly complicated information on a web page, so instead we choose to find another page. And that’s what makes website design and data visualization difficult for those who wish to supply the public with information.
These designers have to make their website appear visually pleasing while also making its content appealing enough to keep readers interested and engaged. It’s a balancing act that designers and analysts of online content have had to adapt to over time as the interests of the public have changed. No more can a website be based solely on content; it now has to include digital art, infographics, or any other tangible, visual content that enhances the reader’s understanding of a certain piece of information. It’s that understanding of a page’s content, designers have come to realize, that is key in keeping a reader on that site.
Because of our interest in visual, often simplified content on a webpage, advanced digital visualization has had a significant impact on the way we understand and interpret that page’s content. As more sites adapt to the interests of the public by adding visual aid to their pages, data visualization will grow more popular by the year.