dave troy – social maps

Social maps that reveal a city’s intersections — and separations

we have an incredibly rich set of data now.. so what can we do with it:

1\ segregation is a social construct.. something we choose to do.. and we could choose not to do it… city like a giant highschool cafeteria – need to shake up the seating chart..

or give everyone fresh start – everyday [seating chart makes me cringe]

2\ race is really poor proxy for diversity.. if trying to use diversity to try to tackle some of our more intractable problems… need to see diversity in new way

3\we have ability to create interventions to shape our cities in new ways.. and if we have that capability we may even bear responsibility to do so

city – sum of the relationships of the people that live there.. and if we can start documenting those relationships in a real way.. then maybe we have a real shot at creating those cities we’d like to have…

or facilitating people’s curiosities better..

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find/follow David:

I like: beautiful things; experimentation; community; creating change; understanding the world; making stuff; helping people.

[baltimore, md]

his site:

http://davetroy.com/

people maps (via Dave):

http://peoplemaps.org/

Peoplemaps is a project designed to reveal the underlying social connections, groups, and communities within a specific geographical region. The maps we produce, however, are not geographical — rather, they describe the relative orientation of communities in a city or region.

Each dot represents a person (or user account),

each line represents a relationship, and

each color group represents a community of interest.

Communities at opposite ends of a map have the least in common. The layout of the map is determined by relationships — they act like springs, bringing people closer together. By arranging the maps in this way, we can determine how people choose to sort themselves, and study the patterns in human arrangement that arise between different cities — and we can also see patterns like segregation and other unhealthy patterns of arrangement.

We are using data from social networks, like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and AngelList (and are looking for more). If you would like us to look at a potential mapping project in your city, please contact us!