Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Social Explorer talk because I have Chemistry lab  at that time (Yes, during Dean’s Hours.). However, I looked at the map in the NY Times at various other maps on the Social Explorer website. The website is designed very well, especially when compared to other websites that provide this much data. The user interface is very simple and the presented information is very easy to understand. I also enjoyed the interactivity of the maps. Although the 2010 Census only provides two data sets, Population Density and % Population Change, the 2000 Census was really interesting to mess around with. The numerous sets of data it provides allowed me to learn quite a bit about the demographics of the New York City population and I look forward to using some of the information Social Explorer provides in our neighborhood project.

The only problem I have with Social Explorer is the color schemes on some of the maps. Thankfully, we have the option of changing the color set on every map provided, and I was able to find a satisfactory color scheme for almost every map. Unfortunately, the text on the maps was hard to read because of the bright colors, but it’s nothing a little straining of the eyes can’t handle.

Perhaps I just wasn’t able to find it, but it doesn’t look like Social Explorer allows you to overlay one set of data over another so that the coloration is for joint ranges between the two sets. This would allow for the user to more easily be able to see how two or more sets of data are related. Is there actually a way to do this?