New technology allows anyone with a computer to share their personal maps with anyone around the world. The application of geographic techniques by common people, aided by user friendly software, has since been termed ‘neogeography’. Neogeography has resulted in the evolution of maps from a 2D image to interactive visuals. Online users can now view videos, pictures, and sounds embedded into the maps they view. The ability of anyone to create an effective visual has resulted in the advent of countless maps ranging from nearby restaurants to Iraq War casualties.
A consequence of neogeography is that more opinionated spatial data (i.e. the best pizza shops in town or those who voted for prop 8) is available to the public. This could be beneficial because it involves more local knowledge than a standard map. Also, maps generated by every day users are probably easier to read and free of commercial biases. However, neogeography’s strength of borrowing information from a wide variety of sources is also its biggest weakness. Since the user creating the map is not responsible for the data they upload (as a standardized map is usually created by a company), ‘neogeography maps’ posted online by average users are probably not the most reliable sources of information. Another consequence of neogeography is that, as user generated maps become adopted by more people, it may push regular maps to become more interactive as well.
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