Twitter Maps keep Americans Connected During Super Bowl XLIII

This week, my students are learning the importance of storing data on maps. Not only do maps offer readers additional visual entry points into Web content, but they can also make mundane or unwieldy data interesting.

If I gave you a chart showing what Twitter users tweeted about during the Super Bowl, what would you learn? That Cardinals fans were talking about the Cardinals and Steelers fans about the Steelers? That “Springsteen” overtook both teams as the most commonly tweeted word during halftime?

Sure, I could tell you about that. But it would break one of the cardinal most important rules of multimedia journalism: “Show. Don’t tell.” (Sure, this phrase exists in fiction writing as well, but the meaning here is much more, well, literal–sorry, that was one pun I couldn’t escape.)

If you don’t know what I mean, visit the New York Times’ Web site and check out their Super Bowl Twitter map and time line. They’ve really got the “Show. Don’t tell” mantra down. Try clicking the links at left (emoticons, ad talk, etc.), hit “play” on the time line, and then take note of how much you’ve learned in how little time.

Thanks to Steve Garfield for pointing me toward this link.