Abstract
Localness is an oft-cited benefit of volunteered geographic information (VGI). This study examines whether localness is a constant, universally shared benefit of VGI, or one that varies depending on the context in which it is produced. Focusing on articles about geographic entities (e.g. cities, points of interest) in 79 language editions of Wikipedia, we examine the localness of both the editors working on articles and the sources of the information they cite. We find extensive geographic inequalities in localness, with the degree of localness varying with the socioeconomic status of the local population and the health of the local media. We also point out the key role of language, showing that information in languages not native to a place tends to be produced and sourced by non-locals. We discuss the implications of this work for our understanding of the nature of VGI and highlight a generalizable technical contribution: An algorithm that determines the home country of the original publisher of online content.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | CHI 2015 - Proceedings of the 33rd Annual CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems |
Subtitle of host publication | Crossings |
Publisher | Association for Computing Machinery |
Pages | 197-206 |
Number of pages | 10 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781450331456 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 18 2015 |
Event | 33rd Annual CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2015 - Seoul, Korea, Republic of Duration: Apr 18 2015 → Apr 23 2015 |
Publication series
Name | Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings |
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Volume | 2015-April |
Other
Other | 33rd Annual CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2015 |
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Country/Territory | Korea, Republic of |
City | Seoul |
Period | 4/18/15 → 4/23/15 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© Copyright 2015 ACM.