The object of mobile spatial data, the subject in mobile spatial research

With an estimated one billion smartphones producing over 5 petabytes of data a day, the spatially aware mobile device has become a near ubiquitous presence in daily life. Cogent, excellent research in a variety of fields has explored what the spatial data these devices produce can reveal of society,...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jim Thatcher
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2016-09-01
Series:Big Data & Society
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951716659092
id doaj-a51792fb33fc4894974807890902e778
record_format Article
spelling doaj-a51792fb33fc4894974807890902e7782020-11-25T03:21:39ZengSAGE PublishingBig Data & Society2053-95172016-09-01310.1177/205395171665909210.1177_2053951716659092The object of mobile spatial data, the subject in mobile spatial researchJim ThatcherWith an estimated one billion smartphones producing over 5 petabytes of data a day, the spatially aware mobile device has become a near ubiquitous presence in daily life. Cogent, excellent research in a variety of fields has explored what the spatial data these devices produce can reveal of society, such as analysis of Foursquare check-ins to reveal patterns of mobility for groups through a city. In such studies, the individual intentions, motivations, and desires behind the production of said data can become lost through computational aggregation and analysis. In this commentary, I argue for a rethinking of the epistemological leap from individual to data point through a (re)seating of the reflexive, self-eliciting subject as an object for spatial big data research. To do so, I first situate current research on spatial big data within a computational turn in social sciences that relies overly on the data produced as a stand-in for the subject producing said data. Second, I argue that a recent shift within geography and cognate disciplines toward viewing spatial big data as a form of spatial media allows for study of the sociotechnical processes that produce modern assemblages of data and society. As spatial media, the spatial big data created through mobile device use can be understood as the data of everyday life and as part of the sociotechnical processes that produce individuals, data, and space. Ultimately, to understand the data of everyday life, researchers must write thick descriptions of the stories we tell ourselves about the data we give off to others.https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951716659092
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Jim Thatcher
spellingShingle Jim Thatcher
The object of mobile spatial data, the subject in mobile spatial research
Big Data & Society
author_facet Jim Thatcher
author_sort Jim Thatcher
title The object of mobile spatial data, the subject in mobile spatial research
title_short The object of mobile spatial data, the subject in mobile spatial research
title_full The object of mobile spatial data, the subject in mobile spatial research
title_fullStr The object of mobile spatial data, the subject in mobile spatial research
title_full_unstemmed The object of mobile spatial data, the subject in mobile spatial research
title_sort object of mobile spatial data, the subject in mobile spatial research
publisher SAGE Publishing
series Big Data & Society
issn 2053-9517
publishDate 2016-09-01
description With an estimated one billion smartphones producing over 5 petabytes of data a day, the spatially aware mobile device has become a near ubiquitous presence in daily life. Cogent, excellent research in a variety of fields has explored what the spatial data these devices produce can reveal of society, such as analysis of Foursquare check-ins to reveal patterns of mobility for groups through a city. In such studies, the individual intentions, motivations, and desires behind the production of said data can become lost through computational aggregation and analysis. In this commentary, I argue for a rethinking of the epistemological leap from individual to data point through a (re)seating of the reflexive, self-eliciting subject as an object for spatial big data research. To do so, I first situate current research on spatial big data within a computational turn in social sciences that relies overly on the data produced as a stand-in for the subject producing said data. Second, I argue that a recent shift within geography and cognate disciplines toward viewing spatial big data as a form of spatial media allows for study of the sociotechnical processes that produce modern assemblages of data and society. As spatial media, the spatial big data created through mobile device use can be understood as the data of everyday life and as part of the sociotechnical processes that produce individuals, data, and space. Ultimately, to understand the data of everyday life, researchers must write thick descriptions of the stories we tell ourselves about the data we give off to others.
url https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951716659092
work_keys_str_mv AT jimthatcher theobjectofmobilespatialdatathesubjectinmobilespatialresearch
AT jimthatcher objectofmobilespatialdatathesubjectinmobilespatialresearch
_version_ 1724613428939587584