2009.02.18
And you thought data couldn't be funny
Just because you mess around with spreadsheets and databases all day long doesn’t mean you’re some humorless nerd who can only relate to people through charts and graphs.
You still have a sense of humor. It's just that your limited social skills mean you may only be able to convey it through the aforementioned charts and graphs.
Well, have I got a website for you, my geeky friends. You and anybody else who can spare a few hours to waste company time on something other than facebook.
Check out graphjam.com.
It’s a site loaded with pages and pages of nonsense fever charts, bar graphs and venn diagrams built by graphjam users. You can easily build your own graph and post it.
A few samples:
Since taking this job about a year and a half ago, I’ve discovered that there’s data everywhere, and people everywhere who are fascinated by it, if not obsessed. There are whole online communities out there built around data and sharing it.
See:
Graphjam, to my mind, is just one more sample of how we're using the Web to make sense of the world in different ways, ways that are increasingly visual. And, some would say, increasingly meaningless. Is there meaning in the graphs above? Well, it ain't Shakespeare, but each represents a comment on life that resonates with us because we recognize in it some piece of our own personal truth.
And some are just fantasies:
These graphs have the same feel and function as editorial cartoons, if you ask me. I know you didn't really ask.
Comment by tonia — February 18, 2009 @ 2:45 pm
Some great ones on there. I especially liked the bar graph of "girls Luke Skywalker kissed". (not too many in the "girls of no relation" column)
Comment by Ed S. — February 18, 2009 @ 8:09 pm