Ways the Web Can Bring Us Together #1: Mapping Tools for the Rest of Us

By Jon Udell on Monday, May 8, 2006.

Whether we embrace or reject or simply dabble a bit in the internet, we are all figuring out how to deal with it. The web has been criticized as a tool that as we use it, takes us further from each other and our community. Commentator Jon Udell is more interested in the ways that the web can help bring us closer to our neighbors and the places we share.

If you search the web for the phrase "Walking Tour of Keene, New Hampshire," you'll find an online movie I made last spring. It's an example of something I call a screencast -- a map with narration that documents some my favorite local places, with text, links, photos, and even video clips.

A year ago, you had to be a web geek to accomplish this kind of do-it-yourself online mapping. But today the process is a whole lot easier. Websites have sprung up that use the mapping services provided by Google and Yahoo to enable almost anyone to create, annotate, and share an online map.

Why would you want to do such a thing? Well, here's an example. One of my favorite Keene hikes climbs past Robin Hood Park. There are gorgeous views along much of this route. But lately it's been hard to enjoy those views. When the snow melted, piles of litter appeared everywhere.

A few weekends ago, at one of the worst spots, I filled up a big garbage bag with bottles and cans. When I got home, I went to a website called Wayfaring.com. I created a map that traces my hike, pinpoints the spot I cleaned up, and displays a picture of what I found there. It took me about 20 minutes.

By sharing this map, I've made it a little easier for you to find a nice hike if you happen to be in Keene. Maybe you'll take that same hike, and maybe you'll bring a trash bag so you can help clean up the litter I couldn't get. Maybe you'll go back to my online map and update it with comments, route markers and photos. And maybe you and I might meet and enjoy a cleaner hike together. Even if we don't meet, we'll know who to thank for taking care of the trail.

Cartography always was, and always will be, a specialized discipline.
But these new mapping services enable us to annotate our physical world in a way that is new and profoundly democratic. We can let others know about places that matter and are worth protecting.

And working together, we can infuse maps with meanings that go beyond our own individual experiences.

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