“We Can Remember It for You”: Location, Memory, and Commodification in Social Networking Sites

Sophia Drakopoulou

doi:10.1177/2158244017712026

Abstract

This article explores the spatial self through the performative aspects of location sharing and geotagging in the process of self-representation on social networking sites (SNSs). Based on the legacy of early experimentations with location-based technologies for social interaction, the article asserts that the representation of location in SNSs has more temporal than spatial attributes. The article explores the immediacy of networks and the different kinds of temporality encountered in SNSs to address the commodification of geotagged content uploaded on SNSs. Location-based data are valuable commodities bought and sold in the market. Therefore, the act of archiving memories on SNSs is commodified and performed within the predetermined functions and actions set within the SNSs’ interfaces. SNSs devise ways to keep users constantly interacting with the present moment in time and simultaneously create memories of the recent past while disclosing personal data that companies use for profit.

Highlights

This article discusses the spatial self in relation to temporality and memory, and asserts that users of social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are constructing their spatial selves based on shared locations and geotagged images that depict places visited and activities done in the recent past
The article analyzes the dynamics of the commodification of the recent past in relation to constructing an online identity on SNSs and concludes that the commodification of narrating the recent past is an integral part of any discussion concerning the spatial self
Having established that the evidential power of photography is implemented by the element of immediacy in social networks and having looked at the relationship between immediacy and indicating location on SNSs, this article has argued that location tagging on SNSs expresses identity by presenting a retrospective review of the recent past in the form of geotagged images and location sharing

Summary

Introduction

This article discusses the spatial self in relation to temporality and memory, and asserts that users of social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are constructing their spatial selves based on shared locations and geotagged images that depict places visited and activities done in the recent past. The article draws examples from SNSs such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and uses the term SNS as established in recent literature (see de Souza e Silva & Frith, 2010; Kaun & Stiernstedt, 2014; Papacharissi, 2011; Reading, 2014; Ritzer & Jurgenson, 2010; Turkle, 2011; Wilken, 2014) to describe web-based and smartphone applications that allow user profiles and the posting of text, pictures, and videos that other users can comment on, “like,” and share. This article argues that indicating location in SNSs (via either geotagging or location sharing) is performative and both a representational and a temporally meaningful act, because the visible geotagging displayed on the SNS interface is essentially a retrospective review of the recent past and is more temporal than spatial

Was There Once

Findings

Conclusion