How is online social media activity structured in the geographical space? Recent studies have shown that in spite of earlier visions about the “death of distance”, physical proximity is still a major factor in social tie formation and maintenance in virtual social networks. Yet, it is unclear, what are the characteristics of the distance dependence in online social networks. In order to explore this issue the complete network of the former major Hungarian online social network is analyzed. We find that the distance dependence is weaker for the online social network ties than what was found earlier for phone communication networks. For a further analysis we introduced a coarser granularity: We identified the settlements with the nodes of a network and assigned two kinds of weights to the links between them. When the weights are proportional to the number of contacts we observed weakly formed, but spatially based modules resemble to the borders of macro-regions, the highest level of regional administration in the country. If the weights are defined relative to an uncorrelated null model, the next level of administrative regions, counties are reflected.

Social networks amplify inequalities by fundamental mechanisms of social tie formation such as homophily and triadic closure. These forces sharpen social segregation, which is reflected in fragmented social network structure. Geographical impediments such as distance and physical or administrative boundaries also reinforce social segregation. Yet, less is known about the joint relationships between social network structure, urban geography, and inequality. In this paper we analyze an online social network and find that the fragmentation of social networks is significantly higher in towns in which residential neighborhoods are divided by physical barriers such as rivers and railroads. Towns in which neighborhoods are relatively distant from the center of town and amenities are spatially concentrated are also more socially segregated. Using a two-stage model, we show that these urban geography features have significant relationships with income inequality via social network fragmentation. In other words, the geographic features of a place can compound economic inequalities via social networks.

Online social networks (OSN) are major platforms of ICT-enabled communication, supporting place-independent social life. However, recent findings suggest that the geographical location of users strongly affects network topology. Therefore, OSNs may be simultaneously related to locations and also unlocked from offline geographies. Our paper addresses this dual-faced phenomenon, analysing the location-specific effect on OSN diffusion and OSN usage. Findings on iWiW, the leading OSN in Hungary in the 2000s with more than 4 million users, suggest that the rate of users (proxy for OSN diffusion) is positively associated with the geographical proximity of Budapest, the foremost urban centre in the country. On the contrary, the average number of connections (proxy for OSN usage) is independent of the geographical proximity of the capital, and it is even higher in peripheral regions when controlling for other offline factors.

This study evaluates fear of crime perception and official crime statistics in a spatial context, by applying digital sketch maps and statistical GIS methods. The study aims to determine explanatory motives of fear of crime by comparing results of selected large, medium and small sized Hungarian cities. Fear of crime information of residents were collected by using a web application, which gave the possibility to mark regions on a map, where respondents have a sense of safety or feel fear. These digital sketch maps were processed by GIS tools, and were converted to grid data, in order to calculate comparable explanatory variables for fear of crime analysis. The grid-based normalised model reflected some similarities and differences between the observed cities. According to the outcomes, examples were found both in coincidences and opposite correlations of crime statistics and perception of unsafe places, highlighting the importance of locality in fear of crime research. Additionally, the results mirrored that the size of the city or the respondent's sex does not significantly influence the overall judgment of places, rather the absolute number of safe markings and the local number of registered crime events could affect local results.Although numerous studies have proved that various spatial factors can trigger fear of crime, the fact is that crime rates in certain areas are not necessarily as high as expected [16,17], consequently, additional explanatory factors should be considered as well. Doran and Lees [18], for example, found relationship between fear of crime and physical disorder. Later, Doran and Burgess [3] proved that the environment in general plays an important role in fear of crime. It was recently shown that even improvements in the environment can have a positive effect on reducing fear of crime [19]. Furthermore, a large amount of studies confirmed that fears of crime are concentrated in areas, which can be described by definite environmental characteristics. For example Lederer and Leitner [20] concluded that fear of being a victim of burglary can be assigned to well-defined geographical hot spots, as well as it is connected with definite statistical features and even with areas having less technical protection.A typical problem of mapping fear of crime, though, is the lack of data on location perceptions. In many countries police have not completed any survey on this topic, therefore, their own data surveys should be made to accumulate information from, e.g., questionnaires [21] or from digital sketch maps, which would conceivably quantify-in a specific way-the level and the area of fear of crime within a city [22][23][24][25][26]. Additionally, several contemporary research papers on fear of crime apply modern IT technologies to draw a more precise picture of the issue. For example Solymosi et al. [27] developed a FOCA application (fear of crime application), which investigates fear of crime as a dynamic phenomenon by tracing the participants' activities, and in this way, the avoidance of ce...

Az információs és kommunikációs technológiákon alapuló információcserében napjaink vezető platformjai az online közösségi hálók, melyek a felhasználóik számára a helytől független társadalmi élet lehetőségét nyújtják. A legutóbbi kutatások ugyanakkor arra utalnak, hogy a felhasználók és online barátaik valós világbeli földrajzi helyzete mégis meghatározó a hálózati topológia formálódásában. Az online közösségi hálók így vélhetően egyidejűleg tükrözik a kibertér és az offline földrajz jelenségeit. Jelen tanulmány az online közösségi hálók e kétarcúsága alapján azt vizsgálja, hogy az offline világ tényezői miként határozzák meg az online közösségek terjedését és aktivitását a lokális szinten. A 2000-es években vezető magyar online közösségi háló, az iWiW 2008-as települési szintű adatainak elemzésével arra mutatunk rá, hogy a felhasználói arány (a terjedést közelítő változó) pozitív összefüggésben van a településmérettel és a Budapesttől való földrajzi távolsággal. Másrészt viszont az átlagos kapcsolatszám (az aktivitást közelítő változó) a településmérettől függetlennek tűnik, és magasabb értékeket mutat az ország periferikus elhelyezkedésű térségeiben. Összességében a központhoz való földrajzi közelség serkentőleg hat az online közösségi hálók terjedésére, míg a bennük megmutatkozó aktivitás vélhetően független a távolságtól, sőt, talán a távolsággal arányosan nő az online platform késői életszakaszában.