is this considered cheap by elite players?

so, you know, im a newbie, and as im playing i usually try to isolate my opponents to build without resistance and crush them. i was wondering though, do other players consider it cheap or cheating to go the the right hand side of the screen (above the minimap) and turn on the "influence viewer" which shows what your opponents control? because i do this to formulate a strategy, and i have it on most of them game to see where they colonize the most planets or where most of they're starbases are...