Here's a remarkably misleading #dataviz via @BethPathak.

Sure looks like the pediatric COVID situation is getting better, right?

Maybe it's coincidence, but it looks a lot the way that I've been able to bring my time spent on zoom calls under control over the course of the pandemic.

Pretty impressive!

Not so much.

Here's a regular cumulative plot of my time spent on zoom.

Plotting the percentage increase in the cumulative total: for all but a few very specialized applications, this is a remarkably misleading form of data visualization because the ever-increasing denominator masks changes in the numerator.

To illustrate what is wrong with the original, @JasonSalemi overlays percentage change in cumulative plot with the cumulative plot itself, for Florida data on pediatric cases.

The red line falls away precipitously even during the duration of peak growth in cumulative cases.

I tracked down the original source of the graph: https://mdedge.com/pediatrics/article/228682/coronavirus-updates/children-and-covid-19-new-cases-may-be-leveling

Coupled with the headline, this is atrocious data presentation from @AmerAcadPeds / @AAPNews.

(Cases may be indeed leveling off somewhat, but this graph sure doesn't let you make that assessment.)