Network locality denotes a shift in the way we experience both the Internet and public spaces, in which location becomes the organizing logic of social interactions. Within the framework of net locality, the emergence of location-aware mobile technologies urges us to consider how these devices strengthen feelings of connection to our surrounding space and nearby people. Location-aware technologies allow us to attach information to places and to communicate with other people depending on one’s relative position in physical space through the use of GPS-equipped mobile technologies. Drawing on the concepts of network locality and hybrid spaces, I will explore the implications of net locality for challenging our traditional notions of privacy, its influence on power relationships, and, more importantly, how it changes the way we navigate and move through urban (hybrid) spaces.
Net Locality: Location-aware technologies as interfaces of hybrid spaces
