Mapping Location Information from Flickr and Twitter

Programmer and designer Eric Fischer has created a series of images that map the location of geo-coded images on Flickr and places where people are using Twitter.

1 minute read

July 18, 2011, 1:00 PM PDT

By Nate Berg


The City Fix talks with Fischer about his work.

"The City Fix: Why did you choose to map the locations of Flickr and Twitter uploads?

Fischer: Because they are the two best sources that I know of for information about the spatial patterns of large numbers of people's lives. I had initially thought that Twitter and Flickr locations might show the same kinds of patterns, just for different individuals, but an initial look at the data for San Francisco showed a significant distinction between Flickr's concentration in scenic and Twitter's concentration in commercial areas. In addition, there turned out to be cities where Twitter is extremely heavily used that I had barely been aware of because Flickr is so rarely used there. So it is interesting to see what places they share and what places are specific to one or the other."

Monday, July 18, 2011 in The City Fix

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

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