University of Washington professor Kate Starbird used a database of tweets about Covid-19 to create this chart showing how retweets (blue circles), quotes (orange diamonds), or retweets of quotes (green circles), boosted a tweet sharing inaccurate scientific claims about the novel coronavirus. (Courtesy of Kate Starbird via WIRED)

“Catherine D’Ignazio, an MIT professor and coauthor of the recent book Data Feminism, advises caution when viewing Covid-19 visualizations of any kind, even from authoritative sources like the Centers for Disease Control. The agency offers a map displaying the number of coronavirus cases by state in ranges, using shading. That format, known as a choropleth map, means high-population states like California will appear worse-hit than smaller states even if they have lower rates of infection, D’Ignazio says.”

Read the full article “The Professors Who Call Bullshit on COVID-19 Misinformation” at WIRED.