Annotating Places

Abstract

The increased use of web-enabled smartphones in urban public life is an important driver for merging physical space with digital information. Smartphone users access this information via a new form of apps referred to as locative media. In media studies, two opposing hypotheses exist as to how the use of locative media will transform public places. On the one hand, scholars express euphoric expectations that locative media will create socially inclusive places by sensitizing users to their environment and bringing strangers into conversation. On the other hand, the opponents demur that by personalizing spatial perception locative media will reinforce exclusion and push the decline of public life. In light of our empirical findings from a case study in Berlin, both hypotheses would appear to be exaggerations. Instead, we plead for a more detailed analysis of different forms of using locative media, revealing inclusive as well as exclusive implications. We illustrate our approach by analyzing two apps for annotating urban places: Foursquare City Guide and Swarm.