We are excited to announce that Social Explorer has been named the Best Law Website in the 20th Annual Webby Awards. Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards, presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet.

Social Explorer’s Threat to Representation of Children and Non-Citizens project examines the potential impact that the Evenwel v. Abbott Supreme Court case could have had on representation around the nation (and still might depending on further legal challenges). The plaintiffs argued that redistricting should be based on the number of voters (citizens of voting age) instead of all residents. Professor and demographer Andrew Beveridge analyzed the effects of such a change in his special report. The award winning data visualization website Social Explorer (Beveridge is the co-founder and president) developed the companion interactive tool to illustrate how state legislative and congressional districts would need to change and which groups would be most affected.

“Social Explorer has set the standard for innovation and creativity on the Internet,” said David-Michel Davies, Executive Director of The Webby Awards. “This award is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its creators.” 

“Representation has been fundamental to US Democracy since the nation’s founding, and the Evenwel case posed a true threat. Our tool, which was used by hundreds of news outlets, community organizations and political groups, made it possible to bring that fact home to communities across the country,” said Beveridge.

About Us:

Social Explorer is a leading data visualization and research website designed to engage users with current and historical demographic data. First conceived in 1999, Social Explorer breaks down the barriers to large-scale data analysis and demographic mapping. With support from the National Science Foundation and The New York Times, the Social Explorer team developed a sophisticated data system and a simple online interface to give users access to comprehensive demographic data and interactive tools. Social Explorer is available by subscription through Oxford University Press. Our partners include Pearson Publishers, the Census Bureau, and the Ellis Island Museum.

Other honors include a 2015 Webby Honoree (Government website: Census Explorer: Young Adults Then and Now), a 2014 Webby Honoree (Education website), the Gold Medal in the 2015 Modern Library Awards, the 2010 Outstanding Reference Source Award from the Reference and User Services Association (a division of the American Library Association), and the 2012 Standard of Excellence Award from the Web Marketing Association.

Andrew A. Beveridge, Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology at Queens College and the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York.  Since 1993, Dr. Beveridge has been a consultant to the New York Times, which has published numerous news reports and maps based upon his analysis of census data. He co-edited New York and Los Angeles: The Uncertain Future (Oxford University Press, 2013) with David Halle of UCLA.  He received his Ph.D. and M.Phil. in sociology from Yale University and his B.A with honors in economics from Yale College. Before coming to CUNY he taught for eight years at Columbia University. He has received grant and fellowship support from the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and many other agencies. He has also been involved with numerous consulting engagements including many related to Civil Rights litigation. He won the Public Understanding of Sociology Award from the American Sociological Association in 2007. He is the president and co-founder of Social Explorer.

The views expressed in this report are Beveridge’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of any organization with which he is associated.