Upload your data

You can upload and visualize your own data in Social Explorer. You will need to prepare a CSV file with the required information and upload it. Social Explorer has a built-in geocoder which turns addresses into points on the map.

  1. In the Change data menu, click  and select Upload data from the Map layers tab.
  2. Click Browse to find the CSV file on your computer or drop your CSV file directly in the Upload your point data panel.

If your dataset has latitude and longitude columns:

If you have latitude and longitude columns in your dataset, you can skip the geocoding step and simply display the markers using given lat/lon data. Follow these steps:

  1. Open the Lat & Long tab in the left-hand sidebar.
  2. In the latitude column dropdown, select the name of the latitude column.
  3. In the longitude column dropdown, select the name of the longitude column.
  4. Click Add layer.

If your dataset has address columns:

If you only have address data (no lat/long coordinates), we will have to geocode the addresses into coordinates. SE has a built-in geocoder that is very easy to use. Follow these steps:  

  1. Open the Geocode tab in the left-hand sidebar. 
  2. If you did not split addresses into multiple columns, check the box next to Full address is in a single column and select the name from the dropdown menu.
  3. If your addresses are split into multiple columns, assign a column to each address element:  Address, City/State, ZIP Code, County Name, or all of the above. 
  4. Click Add layer.

We’ve added a brand new tool to our geography selection toolbox, the layers tool . Using this tool, you can select geographies from your uploaded datasets and easily create reports or masks for those specific geographies in Social Explorer maps.

For a much more in-depth guide to uploading data, click here.