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Maps as Media

By Alex Gekker
Series: Digital Media and Society
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Brief Description
Maps have escaped from the confines of road atlases or decorative frames to being ubiquitous on our screens. Using a GPS while driving, looking for a shop on Google Maps, or tracking a food delivery – all involve some form of digital maps. Rather than depicting... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$7200

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Maps have escaped from the confines of road atlases or decorative frames to being ubiquitous on our screens. Using a GPS while driving, looking for a shop on Google Maps, or tracking a food delivery – all involve some form of digital maps. Rather than depicting existing reality, maps are active agents in changing it, all the while making use of personalization algorithms, content curation and other techniques that are pervasive in digital media. In doing so, maps are reorienting our geography and further fracturing shared reality into individual spaces.

Maps as Media investigates digital maps as new media objects. Combining perspectives from media studies, critical cartography, and science and technology studies, the book examines the transformation of mapping from a specialized domain into a commonplace media practice. Alex Gekker argues that maps are reactive and reflective, fuelled by the ability of software to track, adapt and update. This naturalized state of digital maps allows them to become powerful tools for those wishing to exert power on their end-users. As a growing number of digital technologies integrate GPS and other spatial awareness into their core functionality, this book asks what happens when maps become media.

Original and thought-provoking, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Media and Communication Studies, Geography, and Science and Technology Studies.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781509550135

Publisher: Polity Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 24 July 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Polity Press

Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 23.0mm

Width: 147.0mm

Height: 208.0mm

Weight: 386g

Pages: 288

Collections

Alex Gekker Computing & Technology Education & Reference Non-Fiction Science & Nature Series: Digital Media and Society

About the Author

Alex Gekker is Assistant Professor in Digital Research Methods at the University of Amsterdam.

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