Abstract
Data visualizations are being used to represent death for the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite facilitating understanding, they also foster death awareness through visual language. Considering their delicate content, it is important to understand how different design choices might foster death awareness to modulate reader response. This paper aims to analyze a popular data visualization depicting contagion to map how visual language impacts the reader’s mortality awareness. The method was guided by Close Reading, and the results showed that the use of size, shape, spatial positioning, and color fosters fear, while the schematic way of representation incites reflection.
Highlights
Data visualization (DV) has been used since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to communicate information to the general public
The method of analysis proposed by von Engelhardt (2002) is divided into 4 phases: 1. Brief description of the graphic representation; 2
Description of The visualization is a statistical map with three separate clusters
Summary
Data visualization (DV) has been used since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to communicate information to the general public. Visualizations that seek to be neutral and impersonal might cause apathy and lack of motivation (COOLEY, 2020; HEPWORTH, 2016), while visualizations that lean too emotional might promote fear and incite users to become violently protective (GRANT; WADE-BENZONI, 2009; ROSENBLATT et al, 1989; STEIN; CROPANZANO, 2011). The way a mortality reminder is presented to the user can affect whether they engage in death reflection or death anxiety While death anxiety incites feelings of fear, panic, and dread, death reflection fosters contemplation of meaning, purpose, and focus on positive legacy (GOLDENBERG; ARNDT, 2008; GRANT; WADE-BENZONI, 2009). On the other hand, death reflection causes measured responses and controlled thoughts, has an extended period and promotes positive changes for communities (GRANT; WADE-BENZONI, 2009). On the other hand, mortality reminders that incite reflection are long-term, reflective, and coexist with other changes in someone's life (GRANT; WADE-BENZONI, 2009; LYKINS et al., 2007)
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