Mapping Weblog Geography

Tools that map weblogs by geographic location can enhance communication as bloggers see the real-world connections between themselves, according to "Get caught mapping" in Guardian Unlimited. A London bloggers tube map shows bloggers in relation to the nearest subway stop.

The Bloggers' tube map puts a sense of place back into cyberspace. By doing so, it has the potential to help a group of people doing things online recognise themselves as a real world community and build closer links.

. . . When the net first went mainstream, people talked up cyberspace as some sort of alternative global space . . . . Where you were in the real world wasn't supposed to be that important.

Now, things are beginning to move in the opposite direction. People are beginning to see that location is important . . . . A location-enhanced web will get people out of the house and give them new ways to interact with the world around them. The net might be a tool for localisation as much as for globalisation. . . .

"The revenge of geography" from The Economist mentions weblogs only in a paragraph but offers a comprehensive list of new technologies that create connections through geography - geocaching, location-based encryption (very interesting) and location-based information services delivered through cell phones.