/sci/ - Science & Math

>>11531164
A log scale plot where it is appropriate is much more informative and user friendly for people who know what it is while a linear plot for exponential data is usually impossible to use. Whether it's a failure of communication depends on the audience - I use log plots in reports for finance and linear ones in reports for marketing lel.

If you're specifically talking about covid-19 case count plots for a general audience then it's a tough problem because the linear one is useless and inflammatory but the log one is going to be meaningless or misleading to a lot of people. I'd probably go with a log scale but include some example explainer right there on the plot itself like this image.