Neogeography, or "new" geography has expanded the way maps are made and used on the web. Neogeography allows anyone to create a map of anything they choose and share it with a network of friends. It has also allowed for many "mashup" websites to become extremely useful. Mashup websites are those that combine data from two or more different sources - like a store's website that also includes a map of their various locations, or a website like Yelp.com that provides restaurant reviews but also a map of where those restaurants are. Neogeography has shifted the dialogue of map making from something that was prescribed often very costly, to something that has unlimited opportunity, free, and user-friendly .
Because neogeography gives almost everyone the ability to publish a map there can be a great deal of inaccuracy and misrepresentation. Like other sources of user generated content on the internet, there is no regulation and so amateur map makers can publish maps that are poorly constructed, hard to read, or misleading. Viewers need to be wary of the reliability and accuracy of the content provided on a user generated map. Although this can be an issue with many things found online, this side of neogeography has the potential to sour a user's map reading experience. The more inaccurate maps there are, the more carefully someone has to search for a map they can trust and use.
Aside from this pitfall, neogeography has the potential to greatly change the way we interact with the geographic spaces around us. The ability to create your own map that focuses on anything you like allows for creative and personalized attention to be paid to geographic location. Due to the popularity of "checking-in" to a location on Facebook, we can see that people love to share their physical location with friends. Neogeography adds this aspect of social interaction to mapping as well. Now people can create maps of their favorite coffee shops or a map of their last vacation (or in my case a map of a vacation I will be taking in December) and add links, photos, and videos to enrich the viewing experience.
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