While Twitter is a journalist’s playground trying to find individual journalists on Instagram can be testing. But Instagram is the perfect platform to showcase creative and visually stimulating data-driven journalism. Additionally, Instagram’s interactive tools make it more fun to engage with news. If you are interested in digital journalism, it’s essential that you follow some of the best accounts in data journalism and data visualisation.
Andrea Felsted – @andrea_felsted
Andrea is a writer for Bloomberg opinion and while her account is not exclusive to her data driven work, she often shares charts and graphs that are included in her articles. She specialises in retail and luxury markets, making her account a go to for consumer related data stories .
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Federica Fragapane – @federicafragapane
Federica is a data visualisation artist, and she uses Instagram to showcase her creative and stunning designs. Her illustrations are often complex but if you have a good grasp of data and enjoy unique visualisations then her work will be for you. https://www.instagram.com/p/B3wriJbBQME/
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The Data Says – @thedatasays
This is a data visualisation account run by illustrator Sarah Fawson. Sarah posts colourful and detailed designs based on data about American politics and social issues. She only started her account in September but has already found her beat, posting obscure and interesting data in a truly engaging way. She also has story highlights showing her process for creating her visuals which is particularly useful viewing for any budding designer.
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Mona Chalabi – @monachalabi
Mona has the most established data account on this list and with good reason. She is a data journalist who has worked with FiveThirtyEight and The Guardian, but it is her distinctive illustrative style that makes her work so captivating. She is currently running a series called ‘Know Your Voting Rights’ where she highlights the vital voting and registration information relevant to each state.
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Valerio Pellegrini – @valerio_pellegrini_
Valerio is an information designer and has had his visuals featured in publications such as BOAT and Wired. Although many of his posts are snapshots of his work in said publications, he often offers a good insight into his work and always displays data in a clear yet stimulating way.
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Owen Phillips – @llewellyn_jean
Owen specialises in data on the NBA whether that be on individual players or the league on the whole. While I’m not the biggest basketball fan, Owen’s work is incredibly accessible. It is detailed but not too clunky or confusing, which is especially important when you cover a niche subject with data.
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Jishai Evers – @jishaievers
Jishai has only been posting data visuals since August but he has already established a unique and aesthetic way of displaying data and creating fun engaging visuals. He’s a stand out for me because the data he displays can be quirky and light-hearted. It’s something a bit different to regular ‘data journalism’ and a stark reminder that data stories don’t always have to be hard hitting and serious.
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The next seven accounts are not individual journalists but smaller data-driven media outlets. Following smaller accounts can be particularly helpful for broadening your data intake.
SexyData – @sexy_data
This is one of the more interactive accounts. Data is often presented in the form of short graphics which allows us to form a better understanding of what the data means. A large number of the data posts are maps so if geospatial data is your beat then this is probably the account for you.
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Data Visualisation Society – @datavizsociety
This is more of a curation account focused on, you guessed it, data visualisation. As it is a curation account that means there is more variety in the styles and methods that data is presented meaning you’re bound to find something you like. It’s also a good account to follow to find new and obscure data accounts to follow.
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TheDataVizWiz – @thedatavizwiz
This account features an eclectic mix of data but it’s all presented in a simple and comprehensible way. I particularly like how this account uses the highlights feature. TheDataVizWiz has subcategorised many of its data stories by style of presentations such as maps, line graphs and bar charts, making it easy to go straight to the kind of data visualisation you want.
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Crosstown LA – @crosstownla
This is another niche data account which focuses solely on traffic, crime and air quality in LA. Although I have no real need for such specific information on LA, it’s an interesting and detailed insight into a specific area of data and a reminder of how important localised data stories can be. Additionally, its data visualisation has a very professional finish, especially for a relatively small media outlet.
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Glyph Story – @glyph.story
This account is mostly chart and graph orientated but Glyph Story always make sure to display its data in eye-catching ways offering some quite complex and detailed graphs and charts. They also did some interesting data coverage of the Women’s World Cup and the Tour de France, so keep an eye out for future coverage of key sporting events.
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Chartr – @chartrdaily
Chartr cover all sorts of data stories. However, its work documenting the rise and fall of WeWork, is what brought them to my attention. Its charts are very clear and that makes topics that may be outside your knowledge base far more accessible.
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The Pudding – @the.pudding
Last but by no means least is The Pudding. This account explores unusual stories such as ‘the most common pub names in the UK’ as well as hard hitting pieces on the anti-vaccination movement’s growth. All its data stories are original and well researched, and presented in a professional and interesting manner.
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If we’ve left out your favourite data account on Instagram then let us know in the comments below what we’re missing.