Social Media, Resistance, and PPGIS

For those with an interest in the intersections of evolving forms of social media, geospatial technologies, place, and culture the recent wave of protests sweeping the Middle East is of particular interest.

As I wrote in a recent paper (Meek 2011), "the development of Internet technology in general, and new social media in particular, are tracking and facilitating the spatial evolution of social interactions; as geographic constraints on communication increasingly dissolve, new forms of collective action are arising that transcend traditional conceptions of cultural and spatial fixedness (Jordan 1999; Rheingold 2003; Pickerill 2004, 2007)."


Later on in that paper I noted "New forms of social media are increasingly becoming integrated into evolving forms of political protest (Adams 1996; Myers 1994; Froehling 1997; Pickerill 2004; Mamadouh 2004; Juris 2005). Flash mobs (also known as smart mobs) are exemplary of the political usage of new social media along the continuum of place and cyberplace (Rheingold 2003; Gore 2010; Molnár forthcoming). In essence, flash mobs are relatively impromptu social gatherings in urban spaces that are organized using social media. This movement, which developed from the “Reclaim the Streets” movement in the late 1990s, employs mass text messaging and email lists to organize pseudo-spontaneous raves, political demonstrations, and performance art experiences. In studying the links between flash mobs and mobilization, Molnár (forthcoming) argues that “the emergence and immense popularity of flash mobs forcefully demonstrate that the virtual and the physical are not parallel realms but continuously intersecting social realities” (5). This continuity between online-offline collective action stands in stark contrast to previous dichotomies between physical space and cyberspace, and buttresses arguments for seeing place as a continuum (Wellman 2001; Wilson 2006; Broadfoot et al. 2010). Examining the Philippine’s Power People II movement, for example, which mobilized through text messages to overthrow the Estrada regime in 2001 (Lande 2001; Molnár forthcoming), one finds it difficult to disentangle where resistance occurred. Rather, than specifying these actions as either occurring in space or cyberspace, seeing them located along a continuum of place is more instructive, pointing us toward their embodied interconnections. Kluitenberg (2006), for example, focuses on these reticulations, arguing that flashmobs “demonstrate that we are living in a space in which the public is reconfigured by a multitude of media and communication networks interwoven into the social and political functions of space to form a ‘hybrid space’ (8).” Within this hybrid space, Molnár found that in contemporary flash mobs, YouTube was the primary point of entry for participants, as the spreading of awareness through viral media is integral to these forms of collective action gaining a critical mass. This brief illustration of flash mobs is instructive of the importance of examining the role of evolving social media in attempts to situate collective action."

Given these consideration, it should be no surprise with the recent unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya etc blogs, wikis, wikilieaks, Facebook, Youtube, and other Web 2.0 application are increasingly become commonplace within the landscape of resistance.

Similarly, as I note in the above passages, given that social connections are em-placed, even within cyberplace, we should expect geospatial web applications as the obvious next social stone in the proverbial slingshot. A recent article on Wired (linked here) describes the usage of a Google Earth map populated by Twitter account of resistance and conflict in Libya. Interestingly, the map doesn't dynamically re-present the occurrence and locations of these events online--as that would be a security concern for the individuals on the ground.


View Mapping Violence Against Pro-Democracy Protests in Libya in a larger map

Perusing this map is not only sobering, but incredibly stimulating in re-thinking the intersection of social media, geospatial technologies, and resistance. What it points to at the most general is the importance and power of what's termed "user-generated content". User-generated content includes anything from YouTube videos to Google Earth maps such as the one above They highlight what scholars in Media 2.0 studies have termed the shift to the "prosumer". More specifically, it directs our attention to the myriad potential intersections of social media, geospatial technology, place, culture, and resistance. With the increasing ubiquity of wireless internet, smart phones, free social media applications like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and geospatial ones such as Google Earth it is anyone's guess where the next protests will spring up...if the above ruminations are any indication, it will most surely be emplaced somewhere along the continuum of place and cyberplace.


During the previous generation of media studies, cyberspace was largely defined by the dissolution of traditional spatial boundaries (Mitra and Watts 2002). These descriptions helped cement a dichotomy between actions taken in space versus those in cyberspace (Castells 1996; Miller and Slater 2000). Since 2004, with the origination of Web 2.0, and Media 2.0 studies, this distinction has begun to dissolve (Kluitenberg 2006; Guantlett 2009; Valtysson 2010). As Manovich (2009) argues, we have moved from media to social media. This shift is exemplified by the explosion of user-generated content, such as blogs and wikis, and the transition from media consumption to prosumption (Klinenberg 2005; Humphreys 2008; Grinnel 2009, Napoli 2010; Ritzer and Jurgenson 2010; Paasonen 2010; Valtysson 2010).

(The paper I mentioned is Meek, D. 2011. “YouTube and Social Movements: A Phenomenological Analysis of Participation, Events, and Cyberplace”. In revision- Antipode."

Introducing Techniques Tutorials

Some of the impediments to becoming proficient with GIS and remote sensing for many people is the complexity of the software systems, and time necessary to follow the learning curve.

Through adding a section to this blog with GIS and remote sensing screencasts, I endeavor to help people become more familiar with the techniques of GIS, remote sensing, and spatial analysis. Below is the first screen cast. More will be posted on the Techniques pages on the right. All videos can also be found by searching for Placingculture on Youtube. Enjoy, and please let me know of any comments, criticisms, or suggestions for subsequent screencasts.