Locating Identities in Time: An Examination of the Formation and Impact of Temporality on Presentations of the Self through Location-Based Social Networks (original) (raw)

The spatial self: Location-based identity performance on social media

As a growing number of social media platforms now include location information from their users, researchers are confronted with new online representations of individuals, social networks, and the places they inhabit. To better understand these representations and their implications, we introduce the concept of the " spatial self " : a theoretical framework encapsulating the process of online self-presentation based on the display of offline physical activities. Building on previous studies in social science, humanities, and computer and information science, we analyze the ways offline experiences are harnessed and performed online. We first provide an encompassing interdisciplinary survey of research that investigates the relationships between location, information technology, and identity performance. Then, we identify and characterize the spatial self as well as examine its occurrences through three case studies of popular social media sites: Instagram, Facebook, and Foursquare. Finally, we offer possible research directions and methodological considerations for the analysis of geocoded social media data.

Practices OF location sharing AND THE performances OF locative identity among Italian users OF Foursquare

Communicating the City, Peter Lang (eds Aiello, Tarantino, Oakley, , 2017

Locative mobile media environments transform sociospatial dynamics not only because of the technical aspects of mobile devices but mostly because of the networks of practices that develop through them, thus enabling multilevel con- nections that are both located and mobile, near and remote, digital and physical, actual and “actualizable.” Practices of use of locative media redefine the ways infor- mation is produced, consumed, and circulated in increasingly diffuse, mobile, and user-oriented contexts set apart by the strong contingency and hybridity of social ties within the permeable situation of communication (Greenfield, 2006; Meyrow- itz, 2005). Those practices can enrich and expand the presentation of the self in social interaction (Goffman, 1959) through the “presentation of place” (de Souza e Silva & Frith, 2012, p. 162 ff.; Sutko & de Souza e Silva, 2011).

Up close and impersonal: Locative media and the changing nature of the networked individual in the city

We investigate locative media apps – location-based apps on mobile devices – and their potential to change how individuals experience urban settings. We argue that locative media further lead toward networked individualism. Networked individualism describes a shift toward multiple, shifting social networks rather than belonging to closely-bounded and often geographically based groups. Because locative media apps draw on how a person moves through an urban space, these apps can have a significant impact on the ways in which people interact with their cities and with each other. They mediate users' relations with urban spaces by adding another layer to the sensorial overload common in urban spaces. They can also make visible formerly anonymous strangers nearby and facilitate ad hoc, transient relations. Locative media apps also have unintended social consequences linked to its location-based nature, such as heightened privacy concerns, negative experiences with strangers, invisibility through filtering, and a recalibrated sense of urbanity.

Locative Media and Sociability: Using Location-Based Social Networks to Coordinate Everyday Life

Architecture_MPS

Foursquare was a mobile social networking application that enabled people to share location with friends in the form of “check-ins.” The visualization of surrounding known social connections as well as unknown others has the potential to impact how people coordinate social encounters and forge new social ties. While many studies have explored mobile phones and sociability, there is a lack of empirical research examining location-based social network’s (LSBNs) from a sociability perspective. Drawing on a dataset of original qualitative research with a range of Foursquare users, the paper examines the application in the context of social coordination and sociability in three ways. First, the paper explores if Foursquare is used to organize certain social encounters, and if so, why. Second, the paper examines the visualization of surrounding social connections and whether this leads to “serendipitous encounters.” Lastly, the paper examines whether the use of Foursquare can produce new ...

Where Are You Now? The Long History of Locating Ourselves and Others in Mediated Communication

2008

The last few years have witnessed the emergence of an accessible location-based infrastructure built on the commercialization of the global positioning system (GPS), the development of location-based services such as Google Maps, and the emergence of ’locative’ and, particularly, ‘socio-locative’ practices (i.e., activities that meld locative metadata and social interaction). When considered with a short term lens, the co-occurrence of socio-locative practices and locative technology appears to be an example of technological determinism. However, an historical view suggests that location has long played an important role in mediated social communication. Comparison of the practices spawned by the introduction of three previous technologies—the landline telephone, the personal computer, and the mobile communication device (e.g., mobile phone, BlackBerry—show that individuals engaged in these earlier forms of mediated communication (e.g., talking at a distance, instant messaging, SMS ...