The social network landscape is always in a state of flux, however certain sites seem to have stabilized as clear user favorites over the years. As of 2017, many of the top social media sites have been around for several years (Instagram, Snapchat), and many have been around for a decade or more (Facebook, Youtube, Twitter). So who reigns supreme in terms of popularity in 2017?

The Pew Research Center conducted a comprehensive survey of social media site use, and found that Facebook was the most popular social media site for online Americans overall at 79% (it is also the most popular social media network worldwide). Facebook was followed distantly by Instagram and Pinterest at around 30% each. LinkedIn and Twitter reached 29% and 24% respectively. However, there are some differences in social media site use among different age groups, as you might expect. Pew found that Facebook use was high among all demographics that had internet access, but had reached the highest level of use among the youngest age group (88% of 18-29 year-olds). However, even the 65+ age group had 62% Facebook users (among those who were online).

Sprout Social surveyed a cross-section of study of 1,000 Millennials, Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers, and the results are telling. In terms of most popular social networks, Facebook came out on top for all 3 demographics, though, Facebook was not favored as strongly by millennials (33% chose Facebook as top pick), followed by Instagram (22.2%) and Snapchat (15.8%). It is also interesting to note that even within demographics, there was a divergence in opinions. Younger millennials - those aged 18-24 - favored Instagram over Facebook.

Of course, use of multiple networks is the norm, and Pew found that a majority of internet users are on at least one social media network, a finding corroborated by Tracx. Do these statistics ring true with your experience? Do you think Facebook still reigns supreme?

A good infographic can make all the difference in really understanding the crux of an argument or story. According to Jeff Bullas, "Infographics are a visually compelling communication medium that done well can communicate complex data in a visual format that is potentially viral." Moreover, they are a great way to repurpose and revitalize the information you already have. Though infographics seem to be experiencing a renaissance, they are nothing new. Artist, statistician and all-around data guru, Edward Tufte points to what he calls the one of the best infographics of all time in his seminal text, The Visual Design of Quantitative Information, and it is from 1869!

In the infographic in question (seen below), Charles Joseph Minard visually depicts the march of Napoleon's troops and their eventual demise in a way that shows both geographic movements as well troop casualties. It is definitely more effective than a laundry list of places and numbers. Though you probably won't be talking about Napoleon's march anytime soon, thinking about the principals of a good infographic can help you with almost any topic.

Even if your data is not number-heavy, an infographic can help distill the larger points you are making. When you used to think of infographics, maybe PowerPoint or Excel came to mind - but not anymore! One of the breakthroughs of the past few years is in SAAS (Software as a service) sites that create great-looking infographics with little to no coding or design experience needed. However, creating the infographics in a design tool is the last step along the way. First, you need to :

1. Distill your Data. What are you trying to say? The first step is to clearly and succinctly state what you are trying to communicate through your infographic, put eloquently by Fast.Co as "finding the narrative." Often (most times...), you will have too much content and data for a single infographic. For both qualitative and quantitative data, pick the major points you are trying to cover, and state them as simply as possible. Don't get carried away! I think we've all seen the huge, vertical infographics that require you to keep scrolling...and scrolling. At this point, you will probably want to create an outline for your infographic, so you can work out details like axis titles, categories and general layout.

2. Line up your sources. If you are showing data from a source that is not your own, it is important to include these sources, both to give proper credit to the person/organization who acquired the data initially, and to give credibility to your own infographic (for example, how credible would un-sourced numbers on state population or mobile data use seem?). If you have many source links, it may be useful to create a blog post or page on your site with all of the links referenced, and then provide that single link on your infographic itself. If you are at the stage where you are still looking for data, check out my earlier post on free sources for market research data.

3. Choose a display method. What is the best way to display your data? Are you trying to show a relationship between two variables? Describing the composition of data? Showing change over time? Figuring out exactly what you are trying to show is imperative to figuring out how you want to show it. A pie chart won't work for everything! Chandoo has a succinct description of what types of charts work best for different types of data, and Extreme Presentation takes it a step further by creating a graphic depiction of chart types (seen above)

If you are representing qualitative data, the types of display are even more diverse. Depending on your data, perhaps you can illustrate your data in a timeline, on a map, in a venn diagram, or through a process flowchart. In some ways, representing qualitative data effectively in an infographic may be even harder (or more freeing), because there are fewer pre-set options. Venngage has a nice blog post with ways to display different kinds of data (both qual and quant) creatively.

4. Choose a Template. Now here's the fun part! There are dozens of online infographic tools at your disposal, once you have decided how you want to display your data. Canva, one of my favorite tools for making visual elements, also has the capability to create infographics. Venngage (an example of which is seen below) is a great tool to use when you have non-numerical data, and it can help you make sleek word-based infographics. For something a little more quantitative, Infogr.am (example above) works similarly to Excel, and provides nice, slightly out-of-the-box charts. Piktochart and Easel.ly have a little bit of both, and allows you to create infographics based on qualitative or quantitative data.

If you are looking to create a timeline, Timeline.js is an online tool to create extensive, professional-looking timelines. Creative Bloq has an even more extensive list of infographic creation sites, especially for quantitative data. If you need some addition inspiration, my favorite infographic sites are Information Is Beautiful and Cool Infographics. Do you have any infographic resources that you recommend?