Lab 3: Neogeography

For this week’s lab project, I created a map showing the places that I’ve sailed at throughout my life. In total there are seven different locations that I have plotted on the map. Each location has a brief description of the sailing conditions and what particular boat I sailed there. This task was created using ‘My Places’ on Google maps. I inserted pictures, URL's and video.

View Sailing Locations in a larger map

Google maps ‘my places’ toolkit provided a quick and easy way of creating a personalized map. Adding locations and descriptions to my map was surprisingly easy. I did encounter problems when trying to embed videos – not just with the Google maps application itself, but also where the video originated (YouTube) due to privacy settings.

Pitfalls and consequences of Neogeography

Previous to programs such as MapQuest, Yahoo and Google maps, constructing GIS (geographic information systems) was limited to highly trained specialists and cartographers with expensive programs such as ArcGIS. The emergence of the mass online collaboration allows user generated content to be readily available to all. Though this can provide valuable information in large quantities, it can lead to inaccuracies in data.

These inaccuracies are due to the fact that anyone can produce a map and add their own descriptions or views. User generated content such as the website Wikipedia – which claims to be ‘the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit’, has inaccuracies because anyone can edit a page, from professionals in the field to non-experts. The same can be applied to neogeography.


Potential

Despite the drawbacks associated with neogeography there are many useful applications of user generated maps such as the one I created. It allows sharing location information with all, providing context and conveying understanding through knowledge of place. As with Wikipedia, user generated data can prove to be a vital tool in sharing information with one another.

Furthermore, user generated content, if popular, is constantly monitored. This means that some data can be reorganized every day or even every hour providing up to date information. This can be particularly useful e.g. mapping wildfires. Neogeography has huge potential and is already ingrained into our everyday lives through our phones, laptops and cameras.