Geo Tagging: Will an online trend change our real world communities?
Geo tagging is one of my favorite Web 2.0 trends. With the proliferation of APIs from google and others, the mashup world of geo based tools and enterainment has taken off. Not sure what I am talking about? Here are a few examples:
- Mappr -combines user contributed photos with location data (a la Flickr) with a map so that you can see user provided snapshots from a specific location in the world.
- Chicago Crime - mashes crime stats and info from the Chicago Police Department with geo data so you can virtually explore neighborhood crime using an online map interface.
- Doolittle on MySpace - idoler Melinda Doolittle's MySpace page includes a map-based fan book that incorporate fan messages, their localities and photos.
The real question is if this Web trend will impact how we view our communitiies and how we interact with others in the physical world. The potential is certainly there and in some cases its already happening.
For instance, assume I, by happenstance, find photos of a neighbor's backyard landscaping project posted online. Since they've opened this up to the "world" online by posting the image, I assume they're somewhat approachable and go meet them and check it out. A friendship is born.
Or imagine how geo based content could identify opportunities for special interest groups or even new business opportunities.
What's your favorite geo based Web experience and does it compel to you behave any differently in the real world?
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I work for a large technology company and am working on the next generation of how geolocation api's can be used for evil and how we can develop preventable technologies to stay ahead of them. Believe it or not, many larger cities are unknowingly using really hot mashables to help with gang activity. Good post.
@Will: just so you know, a logo viewable from space (and GMaps) is brought to us by the Colonel himself. KFC put a picture of their figurehead out near Area 51 in Nevada. Now, I don't really condone this--branding nature seems tacky and out-of-bounds. I do know of a certain person who will get a kick out of this icon though. Here's the link.
http://www.michaelcastellon.com/2006/11/kfcs-logo-first-to-be-seen-from-space.html
I am alarmed by the negative impact of all the sex offender maps that have raced across the wires in the past couple of years. I don't have kids. And I think of that kid who was sent up the river for going to a highschool party and getting into a little trouble with a 15 year old girl, TWO years his junior. He faced getting put on that list, and potentially getting beaten to death by a mob of angry community watchers who saw his name under an online red flag in their neighborhood.
But on a lighter note, while recently shopping for homes I was able to look up the tax records of all my friends who own property. And then hop on zillow and zoom right down into their backyards. Now that I'm a homeowner, I'm seriously contemplating a hobby in "Google Maps art."
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