TY - JOUR
T1 - Visualizing global cyberscapes
T2 - Mapping user-generated placemarks
AU - Graham, Mark
AU - Zook, Matthew
PY - 2011/1
Y1 - 2011/1
N2 - This article focuses on the representation of physical places on the Internet or what we term cyberscape. While there is a wide range of online place-related information available, this project uses the metric of the number of user-generated Google Maps placemarks containing specific keywords in locations worldwide. After setting out the methods behind this research, this article provides a cartographic analysis of these cyberscapes and examines how they inform us about the material world. Visibility and invisibility in material space are increasingly being defined by prominence, ranking, and presence on the Internet, and Google has positioned itself as a highly authoritative source of online spatial information. As such, any distinct spatial patterns within uploaded information have the potential to become real and reinforced as Google is relied upon as a mirror of the offline world.
AB - This article focuses on the representation of physical places on the Internet or what we term cyberscape. While there is a wide range of online place-related information available, this project uses the metric of the number of user-generated Google Maps placemarks containing specific keywords in locations worldwide. After setting out the methods behind this research, this article provides a cartographic analysis of these cyberscapes and examines how they inform us about the material world. Visibility and invisibility in material space are increasingly being defined by prominence, ranking, and presence on the Internet, and Google has positioned itself as a highly authoritative source of online spatial information. As such, any distinct spatial patterns within uploaded information have the potential to become real and reinforced as Google is relied upon as a mirror of the offline world.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79957813166&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79957813166&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10630732.2011.578412
DO - 10.1080/10630732.2011.578412
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79957813166
SN - 1063-0732
VL - 18
SP - 115
EP - 132
JO - Journal of Urban Technology
JF - Journal of Urban Technology
IS - 1
ER -