Are Maps really showing us the Right Way? by Jordyn Hutchinson

Are Maps really showing us the Right Way? 

Snapchat has more than 300 million users worldwide, (Aslam, 2017), with its user base growing daily.  Snapchat has just recently added a feature, which, personally, could be dangerous.  In a recent update Snapchat has given its users the ability to have a map, which shows the people in your friends list where you are.  It is fairly accurate, it can even pin point t exact building the user is in, in some cases.  The only way to stay protected is to either not turn this feature on, or go in ‘ghost mode’.  This scares me, and I’m sure it scares a lot of other users to.  The reason, if you are unaware of it when first joining the app, people who add you, that you do not know, they know where you are.  This feature reminds me of the Marauder’s Map from Harry Potter, where you could see where fellow students, and other staff were located on school grounds. 

Snapchat Map 'Ghost Mode'

(Cabeen, 2017, Retrieved from: https://www.women.com/shannon/lists/what-does-snap-map-bitmoji-in-ghost-mode-look-like-snapchat). 

There is a major difference between virtual and real.  The virtual world is the world that a lot more people would say is unsafe, because you cannot monitor everything that goes on.  The virtual world’s we all choose to immerse ourselves in, are not real, and this is where we feel the most comfortable.  Reality is what is physically right in front of us, but we choose to ignore it. 

Maps are used everywhere, daily, whether they be electronic or in physical paper form.  There are all sorts of maps.  “They reflect how we see the world, or “our” world,” (Kuttainen, 2017).  They can change a person’s perspective on an aspect, in some cases.  People use maps to help them get around a city that they may not be familiar with.  People never realise how large a city can be until they have travelled, 20km in the same direction, and are still another 30 minutes away from their final location.  According to Wood, 2006, “Maps are descriptions of the way things are.  They are a lot like the answers people give police at the scene of an accident.  Questions of truth are never far away,” (p.3), maps are a significant part of helping people get to where they want to go, and they can help pinpoint someone’s location, if there is an accident.  Maps can also be used in a virtual sense.  There is a large list of video games where maps need to be used to complete a mission. 

Snapchat is social media app, which means it already poses a threat to user’s safety, and this new feature has just added to the fear that parents have.  Although this is a feature that only allows your friends to see you, unless you are in ghost mode, it is still shouting “Here I am”.  There are a lot of people on social media who add people they do not know, just to have more followers than their friends.  Because of this, this feature can make someone’s location exclusive, because there is a wide range of people who are a part of this social media platform. 

Reference List:

Aslam, S. (2017).  Snapchat by the Numbers: Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts.  Retrieved from: https://www.omnicoreagency.com/snapchat-statistics/  -Other information. 

Cabeen. S, (2017).  Here's what Snap Map Bitmoji in Ghost Mode looks like? Retrieved from: https://www.women.com/shannon/lists/what-does-snap-map-bitmoji-in-ghost-mode-look-like-snapchat  -Image. 

Kuttainen, V. (2017).  BA1002: Our space: networks, narrative and the making of place, week 4: Maps.  (Slide 5).  James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.  -Lecture Notes. 

Toxicblood52.  (2009, December 3).  Harry Potter and the Weasley Twins Marauders Map.  Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVBha-QUUCE -Hyperlink. 

Wood. D., et al; (2006).  The multiple truths of the mappable world.  New Internationalist Publication Ltd. Seeing through maps: Many ways to see the world.  (pp. 1-12).  Oxford, UK: New Internationalist Publication Ltd.  -Reading.