Map Time!

Here is my map of the famous Parisian landmarks visitors to the city would most likely go to.
View



   Neogeography has a lot of potential. User-generated maps are becoming very popular because they are from the people themselves! The average internet user is able to post up, on Google Maps for example, the places he has been to, pictures of them, suggested routes to avoid heavy traffic, and many other types of information. User-generated content creates a type of community trust within users as they peruse the wealth of information given by many people just like themselves. Since the information comes from the users themselves, it can be seen as reliable and a first-hand account of what actually happens around a certain area - there is no medium through which the information has to be examined. Mashups can also be beneficial to those who love finding places that the majority of people do not know about. In addition to photos, users can also provide videos of a certain area. This can definitely help people in the sphere of obtaining information from maps - the people will be able to, for example, familiarize themselves with an area before going there. They will already have an expectation on what a place is going to look like because they have seen the uploaded images generated by other users who have already gone there.
   On the negative side, neogeography certainly does have its pitfalls. Since the content being put into the mashups is not screened for accuracy, users can post incorrect and misleading information that can confuse others, whether or not it was intentional. Another disadvantage for neogeography is that all of the necessary information may not be shown in any given mashup. In a certain area that a person would like to go to, it may be the case that not very many people have visited it and documented the place with pictures and video. That person is at a disadvantage because he is not able to plan his route accordingly. If he had access to a map that was created by an official mapping agency, he would most likely be able to circumvent the lack of information in other mashups by relying on what the official map says.