The Affects of Physical and Digital Cartography

In this day and age, maps, at least to me, are taken for granted. With modern technology such as satellite imaging and computer graphics it is easy for one to believe that we have reached the pinnacle of cartographic perfection. I mean, who can argue that a map is inaccurate when it is a, supposedly, unaltered photograph? But what we, or at least i, failed to realize was the significant power that maps wield, for political, theological, social, and military purposes. And according to the readings this week,  it is still a powerful tool that is being used today, by both conventional paper maps and online digital maps.

    In the past, maps were used as a way of staking claims, dividing lands into manageable portions which allowed for both political and social control. For example, In the middle ages (approximately) rulers would partition their lands to various dukes, lords, and other such nobles. By mapping out and assigning each region of their kingdom the rulers were better able to regulate property rights and have more control over population, laws, taxes, trades, and overall instill a more permanent social order where status was based on land ownership (Harley, pg.7) However, today, while map still serves the purpose of defining territories they are also being used to further the agendas of various people and organizations. This is in part due to the greater variety of maps available thanks to social and technological development. Although the physical landscape is set in stone, the features and destinations can be tweaked for certain needs.

    For example,According to Harley (pg 8-10) purposefully misplacing key locations on a map was a military tactic used by Russians to help curb potential invasions. Another example from Harley would be naming landmarks other their native name was used as a way to instill subliminal religious or territorial messages, adding to the territorial claiming argument i stated earlier. A modern day example would be the tourism and advertisement fields. Every tourism brochure maps have defined landmarks (such as buildings or public areas) with the intention of  drawing in potential customers. Maps based on surveys often distort information to highlight their desired messages, which is why all such maps must be taken with a grain of salt.

When it comes to online maps, according to Farman the advent of social networking tools allows people everywhere to modify these. Digitizing maps allows for more accurate topographical accuracy but allows for a vast amount of modification by both companies and consumers. The biggest example of such a thing would be the I-Phone and its thousands of apps. There are ones for planning routs, locating restaurants, connecting to google maps, even posting where one has been including pictures of these locations. by being able to share these application and personal information via facebook and twitter, we then become the ones who shape maps, creating our own landmarks and locations, giving our own opinions of where the best place to go is and being able to tell it to the world. By doing so we then are able to shape how others see the world, opening up new possibilities that go unnoticed on conventional paper maps due to marketing and tourism needs.