The spatial self: Location-based identity performance on social media

Abstract

Abstract:As a growing number of social media platforms now include location information from their users, researchers are confronted with new online representations of individuals, social networks and the places they inhabit. To better understand these representations and their implications, we introduce the concept of the "spatial self": a theoretical framework encapsulating the process of online self-presentation based on the display of offline physical activities. Building on previous studies in social science, humanities, computer and information science, we analyze the ways offline experiences are harnessed and performed online. We first provide an encompassing interdisciplinary survey of research that investigates the relationships between location, information technology, and identity performance. Then we identify and characterize the spatial self as well as examine its occurrences through three case studies of popular social media sites: Instagram, Facebook, and Foursquare. Finally, we offer possible research directions and methodological considerations for the analysis of geocoded social media data.

Identifying Witness Accounts from Social Media Using Imagery

“…This prompted the discussion of whether the micro-bloggers who posted them were effectively communicating I/we are at this event [11]. Foundation research does appear to suggest the possibility, with posting to social media described as purposeful, highly curative and performative [44]. Regardless, if selfies are found to be an enduring characteristic of WA for certain types of events, this may pose additional challenges for machine learning which this research will explore.…”

“Do We Have LIFT-Off?” Social Media Marketing and Digital Performance at a British Arts Festival

“…User tweets were geo-tagged to a location by Twitter so the interactions between audience members watching Longitude revealed their scattered geographies in much the same way that the show's actors were distributed across three diverse locales. Far from suggesting that audience contributions are disembodied, or that the places they communicate from are without position, they are rooted in physical space as their "spatial self " (Schwartz andHalegoua 2014, 1643). This looping between performance and social media speaks to Doreen Massey's definition of space as something that can be networked, dynamic and hybrid (1994).…”

Comparing Two Methods for Urban Complexity Calculation Using the Shannon-Wiener Index

“…There are several studies that discuss Foursquare users' location choice and their relation to the game-like interface capable of influencing individual's decision making in the city [13]- [15]. In addition to the progress that users can make by checking-in venues and leaving reviews, users' behaviour is an aspect of the individual spatial self, which can be interpreted as a representation of lifestyle in order to create or maintain social relationships [16].…”