Abernathy - Using geodata and geolocation in the social sciences: mapping our connected world

Mapping our Connected World

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David Abernathy, 2017

First published 2017

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016941198

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ISBN 978-1-4739-0817-8

ISBN 978-1-4739-0818-5 (pbk)

Editor: Robert Rojek

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The companion website for Using Geodata and Geolocation in the Social Sciences can be found at https://study.sagepub.com/abernathy

Visit the site for:

• Links to all of the websites and free software packages discussed in the book
• Downloadable versions of all datasets presented in the book

There are around 2 billion smartphones in the world, so chances are you own one of them. If so, think about the ways you might use your device during a vacation. As you plan your trip, you explore places and get driving directions using digital maps and imagery. On the road, you search out places to eat and refuel, paying attention to traffic information ahead in case you need to find an alternative route. Upon arrival, you consult a subway map to see where to go and when the next train will arrive. You take pictures and video of interesting sites and post them on Twitter and Facebook. Perhaps you decide to use the coupon that popped up on your smartphone screen when you walked by a particular shop. As you prepare to return home, you receive a notification that your flight has been slightly delayed and has changed gates. You check an airport map to find a restaurant close to the new gate, then use the extra time to look back at the map from yesterdays hike to see exactly how many miles you walked. Once you have finally landed back at home, you wearily check your smartphone to see where it was you parked your car.

What is so remarkable about the above scenario is that it does not seem all that remarkable; you probably have done most of these things without giving them much thought. We have come to expect information to appear when and where we need it, and to be able to communicate with anyone at anytime, no matter where they are something that Leisa Reichelt (2007) calls ambient intimacy. The normal barriers of space and time have seemingly been so reduced as to practically vanish. We can be on a video call, texting with a group of friends, and posting comments on social media sites (sometimes simultaneously!) without knowing or caring where all of those people happen to be.

But sometimes caring where those people are or will be is precisely the point. While the role that smartphones and social media played in social movements like the Arab Spring and Occupy is still under debate, these tools unquestionably ushered in a new way to coordinate the movement of individuals in geographic space. By having access to decentralized, immediate communication networks such as Twitter, networked groups can quickly mobilize in place and just as quickly dissipate. Flash mob protests can seemingly emerge out of nowhere, dissolve, and reappear elsewhere as networked protesters use ambient intimacy to keep track of each other as well as any potential threats.