The digitalisation of consumption and its geographies

Abstract

As consumer cultures become increasingly digital and the digital/data has become more commodified, geographers have turned their attention to researching the ways in which consumption spaces, socialities and subjectivities are (re)produced by the digitalisation of everyday life. This article investigates the relationships between the digital and geographies of consumption based on a close reading of recent studies on the promises, possibilities, challenges, and flaws of the intersections of the digital and consumption in geography. It connects the digitalisation of consumption with the tradition of mapping and doing geographies of consumption that is concerned with the social life of thing, and opens a conversation on how subjectivities, spatialities, and socialities of consumption are reproduced by the changes in digital spaces and practices in the mundane. This article also points to the potential of a ‘follow the digital’ approach for establishing a dynamic and multi‐sited understanding of geographies of consumption in the digital context.

Embracing the digital landscape: enriching the concept of sense of place in the digital age

“…In summary, the proposed conceptual model highlights the intertwined and interactive nature of the sense of place in the digital age (Ash et al, 2018;Liu, 2023a;Osborne & Jones, 2022). It recognizes the role of media technologies in shaping both the sense of place in physical space and the sense of digital place, and how they collectively contribute to the formation of the individual sense of place (Fig.…”

“…On this basis, this research aims to reconceptualize and expand the notion of the sense of place within the context of digital transformation. This addresses the current significance of digital media as a vital platform for the production of human geography knowledge in recent years (Ash et al, 2018;Kellerman, 2023;Kinsley, 2014;Leszczynski, 2020;Liu, 2023a). Simultaneously, it establishes a conceptual framework for understanding the place experience of new digital media and forms an integrated and inclusive analytical approach for analyzing the sense of place by examining the knowledge context of digital media technology and place experience.…”

“…t has recently been observed growing connections between space, place, and digital environments, highlighting that information and communication technology (ICT) is reshaping people's experiences with space and place (Bos, 2021;Haefner & Sternberg, 2020;Liu, 2023a;Osborne & Jones, 2022). The debate regarding the relationship between space, place, and technology can be traced back to 1998 when geographer Graham (1998) published "The End of Geography or the Explosion of Place?…”

Geographies of queer economies

“…The production and consumption of these apps also reproduce ageism, ableism, racism, and masculinism, and generate norms around who is deemed attractive (Bonner-Thompson, 2017;Jenzen, 2017). The distribution and use of these technologies are not globally even due to digital exclusion (Liu, 2023).…”

“…These include racialized queer and trans people (Chlala, 2020;Muñoz, 2010;Rosenberg, 2020;Todd, 2021), and those living outside of a narrow range of urban centres (Brown, 2008;Myrdahl, 2013). A queer economies research agenda would also reflect recent research themes in human geography including work on everyday and mundane spaces (Binnie et al, 2007), and an increasing interest in digital geographies (Kitchin & Dodge, 2011;Liu, 2023;Miles, 2021).…”