The Internet May Be A Different World, But It Still Maps To Home

Culture

from the where-are-you? dept

There’s talk about how, when you’re online, your physical location means very little. However, the folks over at Topix.net are showing that where someone is sitting can still be quite useful. Last week, the company explained how it actually was able to keep flames to a minimum in its new forums by posting the geographic location of each commenter with his or her post. They’re using a geolocator service and a bit of quick weekend programming to do their best to add just enough info to make people act a bit more civil. However, once they had that geolocation info, they just couldn’t stop, and now they’re coming up with some other useful apps, including a new map showing exactly where the conversations are taking place. It’s worth poking around. So far, it only covers the US, but shows how widespread discussions are. The coverage pretty much matches up with population density, with a few interesting caveats. Topix.net CEO Rich Skrenta noted that San Francisco and Seattle don’t have as much discussion as other areas — but bets that’s because both cities have pretty strong online community offerings in place already. Still, what’s most interesting is how the simple understanding of where someone actual is seems to humanize them much more than just seeing the text on the screen — and how seeing the map gives you a better sense of just how widespread the conversations can really be.