Mapping the digital empire: Google Earth and the process of postmodern cartography

Abstract

The process of cartography and the ideological problems that accompany this process has taken on new significance in the digital age with the proliferation of digital maps and geographic information systems such as Google Earth. This study begins by analyzing the history of digital mapping and its connection to an indexical, ontological reality. I demonstrate how Google Earth, by incorporating a social network that engages users as embodied interactors rather than disembodied voyeurs, is able to present user-generated content and dialog spatially on the very object that such content critiques. Ultimately, this study argues for ways that users can recontextualize and subvert ‘master representations’ of visual media within the authorial structure rather than re-authoring the existing software and structures.