On the "localness" of user-generated content

The “localness” of participation in repositories of usergenerated content (UGC) with geospatial components has been cited as one of UGC’s greatest benefits. However, the degree of localness in major UGC repositories such as Flickr and Wikipedia has never been examined. We show that over 50 percent of Flickr users contribute local information on average, and over 45 percent of Flickr photos are local to the photographer. Across four language editions of Wikipedia, however, we find that participation is less local. We introduce the spatial content production model (SCPM) as a possible factor in the localness of UGC, and discuss other theoretical and applied implications. Author Keywords User-generated content, volunteered geographic information, Wikipedia, Flickr, local, user behavior ACM Classification Keywords H.5.3. [Information Interfaces and Presentation]: Group and Organization Interfaces – collaborative computing, computer-supported cooperative work General Terms Human Fa...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2010
• Where: CSCW
• Authors: Brent Hecht, Darren Gergle
• Keywords: ACM Classification Keywords, CSCW 2010, Keywords User-generated Content, Major Ugc Repositories, Social Sciences