What is Social Mapping?

Almost everyone knows what a map is and how to use it. However, how many people are familiar with social maps? Social maps give us a look at information in cyberspace and tell us about the social atmosphere and how people fit into it. Here is more information about social mapping and why you need to know what it is.

Social mapping has many different definitions. The one that most people are, or should be, concerned about today is the digital profile that social mapping creates on people based on their internet usage and social networks. Digital profiles can be created in many different ways and may contain a variety of data that gives marketers, friends, family and others insight into what you do online and why. This kind of information can be very valuable and powerful, whether people choose to use it for good or bad. One of the reasons that social mapping is so powerful is because it blends both historic and current data to show what you’ve done and what you are likely to do when you are confronted with a particular situation.

Marketers

Social mapping is useful to marketers because it can help them understand what you are likely to do before you actually make a purchase decision. Have you ever been on a website and seen that the featured ads seem tailored to you and your interests? That’s because they are. Many websites collect information from your computer, in the form of cookies, that provide them insight into your location as well as your interests or searches on a particular page. The more times you search for a particular item or type of product, the more likely you are to actually buy it.

Friends and family

Friends and family can use social mapping to stay in touch with you and keep track of you using mobile devices and GPS tracking technology. This technology combined with social networking sites can help friends and family stay in touch while they are on the go. These ways of connecting can be great resources to connect with each other, too. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter can help you and your family to stay in touch even when you’re not at home. They can also be useful for parents trying to keep track of their kids.

Other people

One problem that people have with social mapping is it allows the general public access to information most people don’t want shared. The digital world is full of bad people who will use other people’s information for no good. The information about one’s identity is very important and protecting it is even more important.