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How to Build a Map for Free: immaterial labour and location-based social networking

Leighton Evans Orcid Logo

Unlike Us Reader: Social Media Monopolies and Their Alternatives, Pages: 189 - 199

Swansea University Author: Leighton Evans Orcid Logo

Abstract

In April 2011, I happened to find myself in the beautiful city of York, Northern England, on a Wednesday evening, ready to deliver a paper to a conference the next morning. While there is much to admire in York – beautiful architecture, plentiful culture and wonderful scenery – I had only one object...

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Published in: Unlike Us Reader: Social Media Monopolies and Their Alternatives
ISBN: 978-90-818575-2-9
Published: Amsterdam Institute of Network Cultures 2013
Online Access: http://networkcultures.org/blog/publication/unlike-us-reader-social-media-monopolies-and-their-alternatives/
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa37714
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fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2018-02-05T10:55:20.2293619</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>37714</id><entry>2017-12-21</entry><title>How to Build a Map for Free: immaterial labour and location-based social networking</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>cc05810f3465ddddd6814e131f4e9a79</sid><ORCID>0000-0002-6875-6301</ORCID><firstname>Leighton</firstname><surname>Evans</surname><name>Leighton Evans</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2017-12-21</date><deptcode>AMED</deptcode><abstract>In April 2011, I happened to find myself in the beautiful city of York, Northern England, on a Wednesday evening, ready to deliver a paper to a conference the next morning. While there is much to admire in York &#x2013; beautiful architecture, plentiful culture and wonderful scenery &#x2013; I had only one objective in mind. On this evening, I wanted to watch Manchester United play Chelsea in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. I support neither team &#x2013; and downright loathe Chelsea &#x2013; but I really wanted to watch the match: I wanted to watch it in a bar, with other football supporters, with cheap beer and plentiful screens to see the action. In the past, this would have involved tiresome seeking out of bars in the city, walking from place to place and possibly missing the action. On this evening though, I missed nothing and found the perfect place, and I achieved this in seconds with the use of my iPhone and the application Foursquare: I hit the Foursquare app button; pulled up the list of places near to my location in the centre of York; started going through the venues to find bars, and read the comments and tips left by other customers; and found a nice place with student discounts for beer and lots of screens. The game was a routine 1-0 win for Manchester United, but the bar was great, a hidden gem in York, and found by utilising the power of smartphone technology and the social tips left by other likeminded people. I used the check-ins and comments of other users, stored in a database, to make decisions about somewhere I didn&#x2019;t know anything about, and when I checked-in there and left a comment &#x2013; &#x201C;a great place to watch football and great offers on beer!&#x201D; &#x2013; I contributed to this database and map of places as well. This is the world of location-based social networking (LBSN), a map of places created by users: what is called a &#x201C;bottom-up&#x201D; system, where users create the information rather than being given the information from above in a &#x201C;top-down&#x201D; system. This type of mapping has been incredibly useful to me, but it poses a very important question to be considered: what happens to the data I produce for the LBSN? This essay looks at how the data produced by user-generated databases of places is a very valuable commodity produced for free by the users, and while the database or map is very useful, we should also be aware of how our activities using such services are made into commodities for the companies that provide these services.</abstract><type>Book chapter</type><journal>Unlike Us Reader: Social Media Monopolies and Their Alternatives</journal><paginationStart>189</paginationStart><paginationEnd>199</paginationEnd><publisher>Institute of Network Cultures</publisher><placeOfPublication>Amsterdam</placeOfPublication><isbnPrint>978-90-818575-2-9</isbnPrint><keywords>mapping, LBSN, location-based social media, political economy</keywords><publishedDay>1</publishedDay><publishedMonth>4</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2013</publishedYear><publishedDate>2013-04-01</publishedDate><doi/><url>http://networkcultures.org/blog/publication/unlike-us-reader-social-media-monopolies-and-their-alternatives/</url><notes>This publication is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0).</notes><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Media</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>AMED</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm/><lastEdited>2018-02-05T10:55:20.2293619</lastEdited><Created>2017-12-21T13:05:33.8860724</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences</level><level id="2">School of Culture and Communication - Media, Communications, Journalism and PR</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Leighton</firstname><surname>Evans</surname><orcid>0000-0002-6875-6301</orcid><order>1</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>0037714-05022018105412.pdf</filename><originalFilename>HowToBuildAMap2.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2018-02-05T10:54:12.4630000</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>477613</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><embargoDate>2018-02-05T00:00:00.0000000</embargoDate><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2018-02-05T10:55:20.2293619 v2 37714 2017-12-21 How to Build a Map for Free: immaterial labour and location-based social networking cc05810f3465ddddd6814e131f4e9a79 0000-0002-6875-6301 Leighton Evans Leighton Evans true false 2017-12-21 AMED In April 2011, I happened to find myself in the beautiful city of York, Northern England, on a Wednesday evening, ready to deliver a paper to a conference the next morning. While there is much to admire in York – beautiful architecture, plentiful culture and wonderful scenery – I had only one objective in mind. On this evening, I wanted to watch Manchester United play Chelsea in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. I support neither team – and downright loathe Chelsea – but I really wanted to watch the match: I wanted to watch it in a bar, with other football supporters, with cheap beer and plentiful screens to see the action. In the past, this would have involved tiresome seeking out of bars in the city, walking from place to place and possibly missing the action. On this evening though, I missed nothing and found the perfect place, and I achieved this in seconds with the use of my iPhone and the application Foursquare: I hit the Foursquare app button; pulled up the list of places near to my location in the centre of York; started going through the venues to find bars, and read the comments and tips left by other customers; and found a nice place with student discounts for beer and lots of screens. The game was a routine 1-0 win for Manchester United, but the bar was great, a hidden gem in York, and found by utilising the power of smartphone technology and the social tips left by other likeminded people. I used the check-ins and comments of other users, stored in a database, to make decisions about somewhere I didn’t know anything about, and when I checked-in there and left a comment – “a great place to watch football and great offers on beer!” – I contributed to this database and map of places as well. This is the world of location-based social networking (LBSN), a map of places created by users: what is called a “bottom-up” system, where users create the information rather than being given the information from above in a “top-down” system. This type of mapping has been incredibly useful to me, but it poses a very important question to be considered: what happens to the data I produce for the LBSN? This essay looks at how the data produced by user-generated databases of places is a very valuable commodity produced for free by the users, and while the database or map is very useful, we should also be aware of how our activities using such services are made into commodities for the companies that provide these services. Book chapter Unlike Us Reader: Social Media Monopolies and Their Alternatives 189 199 Institute of Network Cultures Amsterdam 978-90-818575-2-9 mapping, LBSN, location-based social media, political economy 1 4 2013 2013-04-01 http://networkcultures.org/blog/publication/unlike-us-reader-social-media-monopolies-and-their-alternatives/ This publication is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0). COLLEGE NANME Media COLLEGE CODE AMED Swansea University 2018-02-05T10:55:20.2293619 2017-12-21T13:05:33.8860724 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - Media, Communications, Journalism and PR Leighton Evans 0000-0002-6875-6301 1 0037714-05022018105412.pdf HowToBuildAMap2.pdf 2018-02-05T10:54:12.4630000 Output 477613 application/pdf Version of Record true 2018-02-05T00:00:00.0000000 true eng
title How to Build a Map for Free: immaterial labour and location-based social networking
spellingShingle How to Build a Map for Free: immaterial labour and location-based social networking
Leighton Evans
title_short How to Build a Map for Free: immaterial labour and location-based social networking
title_full How to Build a Map for Free: immaterial labour and location-based social networking
title_fullStr How to Build a Map for Free: immaterial labour and location-based social networking
title_full_unstemmed How to Build a Map for Free: immaterial labour and location-based social networking
title_sort How to Build a Map for Free: immaterial labour and location-based social networking
author_id_str_mv cc05810f3465ddddd6814e131f4e9a79
author_id_fullname_str_mv cc05810f3465ddddd6814e131f4e9a79_***_Leighton Evans
author Leighton Evans
author2 Leighton Evans
format Book chapter
container_title Unlike Us Reader: Social Media Monopolies and Their Alternatives
container_start_page 189
publishDate 2013
institution Swansea University
isbn 978-90-818575-2-9
publisher Institute of Network Cultures
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - Media, Communications, Journalism and PR{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - Media, Communications, Journalism and PR
url http://networkcultures.org/blog/publication/unlike-us-reader-social-media-monopolies-and-their-alternatives/
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description In April 2011, I happened to find myself in the beautiful city of York, Northern England, on a Wednesday evening, ready to deliver a paper to a conference the next morning. While there is much to admire in York – beautiful architecture, plentiful culture and wonderful scenery – I had only one objective in mind. On this evening, I wanted to watch Manchester United play Chelsea in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. I support neither team – and downright loathe Chelsea – but I really wanted to watch the match: I wanted to watch it in a bar, with other football supporters, with cheap beer and plentiful screens to see the action. In the past, this would have involved tiresome seeking out of bars in the city, walking from place to place and possibly missing the action. On this evening though, I missed nothing and found the perfect place, and I achieved this in seconds with the use of my iPhone and the application Foursquare: I hit the Foursquare app button; pulled up the list of places near to my location in the centre of York; started going through the venues to find bars, and read the comments and tips left by other customers; and found a nice place with student discounts for beer and lots of screens. The game was a routine 1-0 win for Manchester United, but the bar was great, a hidden gem in York, and found by utilising the power of smartphone technology and the social tips left by other likeminded people. I used the check-ins and comments of other users, stored in a database, to make decisions about somewhere I didn’t know anything about, and when I checked-in there and left a comment – “a great place to watch football and great offers on beer!” – I contributed to this database and map of places as well. This is the world of location-based social networking (LBSN), a map of places created by users: what is called a “bottom-up” system, where users create the information rather than being given the information from above in a “top-down” system. This type of mapping has been incredibly useful to me, but it poses a very important question to be considered: what happens to the data I produce for the LBSN? This essay looks at how the data produced by user-generated databases of places is a very valuable commodity produced for free by the users, and while the database or map is very useful, we should also be aware of how our activities using such services are made into commodities for the companies that provide these services.
published_date 2013-04-01T03:47:31Z
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score 11.035655

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