Oh, sure, it’s easy to hit “unfollow” on Twitter, but for some reason, pulling the plug on Facebook friends is more difficult — perhaps because the terminology of “unfriending” actually forces you to admit that your relationship with that junior-high volleyball buddy is over. With that in mind, it’s illuminating to learn what drives people to unfriend: over 55 percent of respondents to a new Nielsen survey will boot an acquaintance who makes offensive comments, while 41 percent will dismiss someone they just don’t know well (which raises the question of why they accepted the person’s friend request in the first place). Meanwhile, Nielsen also learned that the single most important factor in adding a friend is knowing them in real life — which may seem obvious, but does give us a little bit of hope that social media isn’t entirely exploding the boundary between real-world friendships and virtual ones. See the entire infographic and learn more about the study at Nielsen. [via Gawker]
Mapping thirty years of Apple products ranging from 1983′s Apple IIe to this year’s iPhone 4S, Pop Chart Lab has released The Insanely Great History of Apple infographic print. Sorted according to type and graphing the connections between form and function, it’s clear to see that Apple has created some stellar — and dare we say, sexy — products over the years. Bask in the rainbow-licious glow of Apple’s full-size history over here. We think the print still holds up at a distance from a design perspective (must be that lovely retro wave), but if you need more personal time with it, pick up a print on PCL’s website before this limited edition run sells out.
Map nerds: prepare to be seduced. This beauty hails from The General Atlas of the World — an 1854 volume printed by A & C Black Publishing Company, the same folks who issued early editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica. The tome contained steel engravings from well-known cartographers like William Hughes and featured close to 70 maps. The Victorian map featured above charts the rivers and mountains of its time — something that becomes more apparent when you note that Dhawalagiri is listed as the tallest peak, not Mount Everest. The color-coding and drawing (those root-like rivers and bloody volcano clouds are amazing) make this a particularly stunning little map. You can zoom in on its legend over here.
Humorously uncomplicated and sporting the iconic raincoat and fedora of the genre, the Film Noire Guide to Ominous Lighting infographic toys with the dramatically lit characters that classic movie cinephiles love, made famous by greats like The Big Sleep, Sunset Boulevard, and Double Indemnity. The melodramatic nature of the detective crime tales, along with the black-and-white visual and narrative sensibility of the stories, is made obvious in the infographic’s lighting scale. See what happens when things go from gloom to doom in three easy steps, after the jump.
Every day is Halloween according to amusing infographic, The United States of Scary Things. Between the devastating effects of Mother Nature, zombies, and serial killers, American citizens have a lot to worry about year-round. If the zombie apocalypse ever truly breaks out, it looks like the east coast is totally screwed. Meanwhile, falling rocks, tornadoes, and ghosts will plague the central portions of the state. We wonder if Wisconsin should share calamities with Ohio since Dahmer was born in the Buckeye state, but killed his victims almost entirely in Wisconsin. Hit the jump to check out the infograph in full, and debate your home state’s misfortune.
When the smart lady-geeks at The Mary Sue posted the Redditor-created infographic above comparing the women of science fiction to the female characters on prime-time TV (as though those two worlds are mutually exclusive), they encouraged us to “think of it as a discussion starter.” So, let’s talk about this obvious piece of sci-fi propaganda: On the left side, amid the “strong, independent, intelligent” physicians and scientists, there doesn’t seem to be room for, say, the ubiquitous Slave Leia or any of Captain Kirk’s beloved space babes.
But the right side may be even worse. For one thing, what is so terrible about Elaine Benes — who just yesterday won well-deserved praise on Jezebel for being “the most casually feminist character to ever grace the small screen”? And isn’t it a bit disingenuous to give us a big photo of Betty Draper to represent a show that spends far more time on ’60s proto-feminist Peggy Olson? Why are we looking at Carmela Soprano and not, say, Edie Falco’s current character, the strong, tough Nurse Jackie? While Rachel Green has been off of NBC for years, Leslie Knope and Liz Lemon are on it right now! Snooki, meanwhile, isn’t even supposed to be a character — she’s ostensibly a real person! So, yeah, this infographic? Misleading.
The folks at Salty Waffle call the “Gen Y Hipster” Get Satisfaction infographic below, which claims to explain young people’s buying habits, “fun.” Us? As members of the elusive Gen Y, we find it more than a little condescending — and also potentially misleading. It pairs snarky, entirely non-factual observations (“Expensive accessory to legitimize claims of creativity,” “Skinny jeans necessitate external placement of jeans”) with dubious statistics that lack citation (30 percent of Gen Y is apparently made up of “Creators and Trend Setters,” while 57 and 54 percent are “Joiners” and “Spectators,” respectively). Meanwhile, what’s the deal with the “knit cap hides rising hairline under guise of youthful fashion” crack? First of all, 1993 called, and it wants its winter-hats-all-year trend back. Also, if we’re supposed to be talking about people under 30, are receding hairlines really a defining concern? Witness the mess after the jump.
We’re fascinated (and also somewhat taken aback by) a new post on NPR’s Planet Money that breaks down the cost of creating a hit song. As Zoe Chace explains, the process begins with a writing camp, where a label gathers top songwriters and producers to put together the tracks for a star’s upcoming album, renting out around ten studios for around two weeks and dropping approximately $25,000 a day. For Rihanna’s Loud, the example Chace follows throughout the piece, that comes out to $18,000 per song. Of course, the entire cost of writing, recording, producing, and finishing a pop hit pale in comparison with the promotional budget. See an infographic with the full expense breakdown after the jump, and be sure to read the Planet Money piece for all the industry-insider details.
As computer-aided design continues to advance, high-quality infographics have sprung up all over the internet. Photographer Jose Duarte is doing something different. His “handmade visualizations” incorporate balloons, string, tape, sidewalk chalk, and — most remarkably — his plant-filled surroundings, both indoors and outside. A series on the state of the internet in 2010 compares Lady Gaga’s number of Twitter followers to Al Gore’s, reveals that 90 percent of all email is spam, and more. Click through a gallery of Duarte’s images after the jump, and if you’re interested in making your own lo-fi infographic, you can write to the artist for a free tool-kit.
Feel the need to make a movie but have no idea where to start? French television channel and film production company Canal+ is here to help with these flowcharts slash advertisements made by Euro RSCG. For an even bigger version click here. You can also figure out how to make an animated movie, a horror flick, an action movie, and um, a porn. Go wild.
