It seems it’s hard to go through a dozen or more tweets on Twitter or posts on Google+ these days without coming across a post that features an infographic. Their power to grab people’s attention just by using the text #INFOGRAPHIC, leading to a higher CTR and actual consumption of content, is impressive. It doesn’t come as a surprise since we’ve become a society that retains more knowledge through the use of visual learning (50% retention compared to 10%), and with the increased popularity of content marketing they have a tendency to go viral through their use of striking visuals and concise facts. But when and where did infographics originate, and how long have they been utilized as a form of content? These were questions I had personally so I set out to find some answers.
What a better way to learn about the history of infographics than through an actual infographic itself! The folks over at Visual.ly felt the same way, and since they’re experts in infographics and data visualizations they created their own which is included here. Rather than have me ramble on I’ll let you read the history for yourself but it’s interesting to think that cave paintings and Egyptian heiroglyphics were in a way an early form of infographics if you base them on the definition below.
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Read more: The Purpose of Content