Maptia
is global forum where stories of adventure and travel and culture are published
together by people from all over the world. The stories cover thousands of
topics like humanitarian missions treks through the wild artic or jungles to
simple stories about how people view the world in their own cities. It’s a
forum and connection for those interested and willing to learn more about this
blue dot we call home and the inhabitants within it, whether they be man or
beast.
I agree
with Gaventa’s (2003, p.2) idea that power can be a productive and positive
force in the networks that we create. Maptia is a space of people trying to
promote the world and everything within it. John Allen (2003, p.2) would label
the power Maptia’s contributors exert as seductive. And it is. Each piece of
work is a finely crafted and carefully reviewed addition to the website. It is
designed to inspire the reader, to empower them. It’s a positive use of power
attempting to entice people to be a part of the world. In doing this it also
entices people to share their own stories on Maptia further expanding the
network, the people reached and the power exerted by the website.
Anybody
can create an account and contribute if they are willing to put the work into a
story. Users create personas, which can be accurate to physical reality, or
not. It doesn’t matter. Maptia isn’t about who is saying what it’s about the
stories told and what they can invoke in people. Identity is not a major issue;
everybody is free from the hindrances that a ‘real’ identity might pose. In
some cases this makes the impact of stories stronger, it doesn’t matter who is
speaking about the inequalities of the third world country, only their
experiences are speaking to us. In cases where authors have willing disclosed
their physical identities it allows readers to form a bond with the author. In
either scenario the stories can be enriched by a lack of or the presence of
identity.
You can find out more about Maptia on the website or at the following URL - http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/12/03/maptia/
Gaventa, (2003, p.2) as found on Slide 13 BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narrative and the Making of a Place, Lecture 2, Power: The Panopticon
Allen, (2003), Lost Geographies of Power, Cornwall, UK; Blackwell Publishing.
Maptia, (2011) A World of Stories, Retrieved from <https://maptia.com/welcome>
TNW News, (2014) Maptia's Story Telling Platform Is A Haven For Storytelling Writers And Photographers With Wanderlust, Retrieved from <http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/12/03/maptia/>
You can find out more about Maptia on the website or at the following URL - http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/12/03/maptia/
REFERENCES
Allen, (2003), Lost Geographies of Power, Cornwall, UK; Blackwell Publishing.
Maptia, (2011) A World of Stories, Retrieved from <https://maptia.com/welcome>
TNW News, (2014) Maptia's Story Telling Platform Is A Haven For Storytelling Writers And Photographers With Wanderlust, Retrieved from <http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/12/03/maptia/>
This Maptia sounds like a very interesting social networking site and I am very interested to look into it. Bear with me if what I am writing does not make sense or is not relevant with Maptia as I have never experienced it before. I agree with what you are saying about how the networks we create can become positive and productive from power and it sounds very evident from this network platform. From my understanding of Maptia, like how you said ‘what they can invoke in people’ when talking about new or other users, they could be also experience what J. Allen calls “Associated Power” in Lost Geographies, where I assume users would feel empowered from reading others posts of places that they have also been to, to also tell their own travel tales and continuing the connections helping support the network.
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ReplyDeletePersonally I find Mapitia to be an excellent social network platform, because not only is it a place for writers to share their stories, it’s a place specific for tales about their travels and really, everyone loves to talk about their travels whether it be in their city, to new countries or maybe even travelling through their own mind set (I don’t know, I think that’s a bit too deep)
I believe that, with authors, they gain a sense of power and confidence when their works receive excellent feedback. I believe this because personally, I feel like my work has validation when people give me positive feedback and I feel a sense of power. So, in saying this I completely agree that “power is ‘everywhere’, it is diffused and embodied in what we learn, what we can and cannot say, and what is legitimated as real or the truth.” (Ba1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives and making of Place, Lecture 2, page 13) I also agree that “Power is not just a negative, coercive or repressive thing that forces us to do things against our wishes. Power is a networked space of relations – and it can also be a necessary, productive and positive force in the networks of society” (Gaventa, 2003, p. 2)