People have literally left their mark on the world for many, many generations. The earliest graffiti was created prior to written language. And the first drawings in caves appeared thousands of years ago. La Cueva de las Manos or “The Cave of Hands” located in Santa Cruz, Argentina offers one of the first fascinating ancient examples of graffiti. The paintings date from 13,000 to 9,000 BCE. Leaving our DNA both figuratively and literally to indicate our presence is a widespread practice that is nearly synonymous with human existence. Seattle’s famous Gum Alley is a practical vault of human DNA left behind. This is all to say that social sharing as we know it in the digital world is not new. It just taps into something we seem to be programmed to want to do as a species. Just another element of the digital world that fascinates me more and more the closer I look.
Hyperlocal
While much of what we see in social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter derive from wide swaths of geography I have a particular fascination with hyperlocal content.
Hyperlocal is information oriented around a well-defined community with its primary focus directed toward the concerns of the population in that community.
While this type of communication may not serve to diversify the thinking within the group it does allow one to keep a finger on the pulse of a community. I like being part of a close knit group of humans and knowing my conversations will remain within that group gives me a certain amount of comfort; allowing me to be more vested in the reactions and interactions at play.
NextDoor is a great example of hyperlocal information creation and consumption. It’s structured so that messages originating closer to my house are given more prominence than those from farther away. Most dating sites also operate in this same fashion; matching up potential romantic partners according to proximity. Same with Yelp: If I’m hungry I may not want to drive two hours away for lunch. While Hyperlocal information shouldn’t be the ONLY part of a nutritious diet, catering to a specific community serves a natural instinct we have to understand our immediate surroundings.
Augmented World
Look at these refrigerator doors at my local Walgreens, they are a great example of augmented reality; because the world behind them is being augmented or enhanced with the additional information layered on the screen in front of it. So instead of having to wear special glasses or pull out my phone the information is just there. Look at how much easier it is to not only see what’s in the cooler as compared to a regular glass door but I know when they are running low on a product or if a product is even out, the store can adjust prices based on supply and demand. It’s giving me so much useful information when making a decisions or looking for a particular product. There are a ton of examples like this around us and it helps me appreciate the value that AR promises. Place the information I want close to the subject of that information. Or as Waldo Tobler put it, “Everything is related to everything else but near things are more related than distant things.”
Tobler Labs 