Lab 3

View Geography 7 Map in a larger map


This neogeographic map is created in my cousin's home of Westminster, CA. Coming from a small agrarian city, it bewildering to see a place so completely different from my own. Cars were everywhere, the sizes of people's backyards were only a mere fraction of my own, and there were just so many people around. Here, there was no vast countryside to explore or trickling rivers to follow. Instead, there existed humongous shopping complexes that were easily to get lost in and endless boulevards that were gridlocked at all times.


Westminster was the first large city that I came to know and love. Located in Southern California, the weather was always perfect, the beach was a few blocks away, the diversity and opportunities were awe inspiring.  I have chosen to mark the places where I grew up; where my memories are most prominent. I have mapped paths that my cousins and I have taken over and over again, places that we have visited on countless occasions, and areas of great interest.


Although one may view neogeography as innovative, one must remember there may exist many pitfalls and consequences to such a nascent field.  Neogeography allows the user to create their own maps suited to their needs.  Whether it be a tour of San Francisco as shown on Google Map's "MyMaps" Tutorial (Google MyMaps) or a simple mashup of a my favorite locations in Orange County, user created maps are readily available to everybody.  No longer a field dominated by expert cartographers and government agencies, map making has been made into a simple and intuitive process to anybody with an internet connection.  Google Maps, Wikimapia, and the like are all websites in which users can manipulate their own cartographic creations with the help of a User Graphic Interface (UGI).  Programming experience is not necessary.  Click here, drag here, add information and one is on their way to making a map.


Nevertheless, one can be candid enough to say with such an unregulated process, neogeography cannot be trusted due to its flaws.  The freedom that the user is given can lead to many human errors.  Locations are not necessarily accurate in a neographic map; places that one has visited many times will carry more weight in the user's mind and will therefore lead to more acuity in the documentation of that place on a map.  Likewise, an environment that one has visited less frequently will be faint in ones mind and cause a distortion in mapping its actual location.  This can cause mistakes if one is using neographic maps to document relative distances between two or more user defined points.       


Since such maps are available to the public, tampering is possible.  Google Maps allows for maps to be collaboratively edited by many people.  This aspect, although having many potentials, can be counterintuitive to ones goal of map making.  This also brings up the question of privacy.  We live in the "age of information."  For the most part, our lives become an open book to anybody with a search engine.  Where does one draw the line in the censorship of maps?  Take for example, a website called "Prop 8 Maps" (http://www.eightmaps.com/) where an anonymous citizen has mapped all the donors who supported the banning of gay marriage in California.  Although this may be taken as merely demonstrative, one could assume that there lies a risk associated with this broadcast of information.  Politics is a cut-throat domain.  Who knows what possible retributive acts could occur with a map such as this.  


Furthermore, even with the most recent geocaching data, applications such as Google Maps and Wikimapia can present false information.  Many times the points designating known locations are imprecise--sometimes off by several hundred feet.  The magnitude; of information represented by these programs is constantly being updated, augmented, or replaced.  Recent changes to an environment may not be immediately seen.     


Neogeography is an up and coming aspect of traditional geography.  Although trivial compared to complex Geographic Information software such as ArcGIS, the everyday user has the ability to make personalized maps with great ease.  There may exist pitfalls, but one would hope that with time they may be soon be a thing of the past.