When most of us think of the word ‘data,’ we conjure up images of line graphs, pie charts, and spreadsheets with columns and rows of numbers. But what if someone were to say that data can also represent what you post on Facebook or Twitter, the ratings you gave a restaurant, the photos you uploaded to Flickr, or even the way you feel?

An emerging set of tools is making it easier than ever to track and compile a vast array of data and display it in a way that’s extraordinarily easy to understand. You can now point your cell phone at a street and instantly get restaurant reviews, or type in your address and find reports of crimes that may have occurred in your neighborhood. It may soon even be possible to track emotions on a national and global scale.

Specialists from scientists to accountants have been dealing with data for decades, but what’s new is that there’s a whole lot more data of relevance to consumers. Additionally, people are generating a whole lot of data themselves these days.

I believe there are several reasons why we’re seeing more data visualization in popular culture and why it’s becoming simpler and more innovative. Computers and software have gotten cheaper during the past few decades, and the technology needed to build applications is now in the hands of more people. Meanwhile, more data are becoming digital, making it easier to parse and catalog.

Finally, through the advent of social media applications like Facebook and Twitter, coupled with a rise of increasingly sophisticated cell phones, a cultural shift is seemingly under way.

I see individual people defining their own social networks for other people to see, and that, I believe, has led people to become interested in exploring data in ways they weren’t interested in before. We’re putting tools into the hands of millions of people, but more importantly, we’re connecting those people.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about innovation and technology