The image of a data city

Abstract

Social media content shared today in cities, such as Instagram images, their tags and descriptions, is the key form of contemporary urban life. It tells people where activities and locations that interest them are, and it allows them to share their urban experiences and self-representations. It creates an “image of a city” for both its residents and the outside world. One can argue that the identity of any city today is as much composed of the media content shared in that city on social networks as its infrastructure and economic activities. For these reasons, any analysis of city experience and self-representation needs to consider social media content shared in a given city.