Placing of photos on the internet: Critical analysis of biases on the depictions of France and Afghanistan on FLICKR |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Fiber Optical Sensor Systems, Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institute, Am Stollen 19 H, 38640 Goslar, Germany;2. Department of Applied Photonics, Institute of Energy Research and Physical Technologies, Clausthal University of Technology, Am Stollen 19 H, 38640 Goslar, Germany;3. OHB-System AG, Universitätsallee 27-29, 28359 Bremen, Germany;2. School of Biological, Biomedical and Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, United Kingdom;3. School of Biology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom;4. Centre d''Ecologie et des Sciences de la Conservation (CESCO UMR7204), Sorbonne Universités, MNHN, CNRS, UPMC, CP51, 55 rue Buffon, Paris, France;5. Department of Environment Earth and Ecosystems, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom;11. Environment Department, University of York, York, United Kingdom;2. Imperial College London, Ascot, Berkshire, United Kingdom;3. South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa;4. Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland;5. University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland;11. School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom;12. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand;8. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, Japan;9. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, United States |
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| Abstract: | The Internet and the representation of space therein are almost omnipresent in society and everyday life. Peer-produced geographic data is gaining a particular importance through increasingly available digital tools and techniques that shape the perception of space in the internet, such as flickr, OpenStreetMap or Wikipedia. However, few studies focused on how space is represented, and by whom it is described. We hypothesize that the alleged opening up of geographic information and the assumed benefits for every individual and society through the occurrence of ‘easy-to-use-mapping-tools’ was premature. To explore these assumptions, a comparative study of the flickr worldmap was undertaken and roughly 6.8 million metadatasets of geocoded photos in France, and roughly 50,000 metadatasets in Afghanistan were downloaded and the metadata was analyzed. Our results indicate that photos geocoded in France show a large diversity of motives, while photos geocoded in Afghanistan are mostly limited to content containing warfare when they are up loaded in English. The content of the photo and therefore the representation of space strongly depend on who uploaded the photo, particularly in Afghanistan. We can show that the representation of space on the internet, for the case of flickr, is strongly dominated by perceptions of Western societies and individuals. We therefore confirm our hypothesis that the supposed opening up of geographic information systems through ‘easy-to-use-mapping-tools’ and their democratization thereof was premature. Moreover, we highlight the importance of understanding who contributes online content to be able to evaluate peer-produced data, its value, and its possible applications to avoid reproducing biases. |
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| Keywords: | Neogeography Flickr Online spaces Perception of space Big data Volunteered geographic information Digital divide Critical cartography Online representation Augment realities |
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