MA dissertation : Interactive Digital Media

This dissertation is ultimately concerned with the utilisation of digital networked media for the generation, visualisation and dissemination of spatialised social knowledge. Firstly, the current state of media consumption and the traditionally understood methods of leaning and understanding new information, including community participation are discussed, it is then argued that the ordinary public could do this so that they can form and develop attitudes towards socially significant objects and situations, as well as providing an archive for future generations. Emergent social systems of collaborative and community media production are then discussed and the benefits of such systems are presented. As an example, the visualisation and mediation of social information through distributed, synchronous and asynchronous, collaborative mapping is then specifically investigated, and the question of why such practices are not ubiquitous is asked. Within this sphere of investigation, a conceptual framework for the design and evaluation of collaborative mapping software is expanded and implemented. This framework aims to encompass both the technical and contextual elements as well as the human cognitive experience of the collaborative.