Space and place in the virtual world: How does Instagram create space and place?

Space and place in the virtual world: How does Instagram create space and place?

When questioning and discussing the role of social networking sites such as Instagram, there comes the question; Does social networking sites create a sense of space and place? In order to answer this puzzling question, we must first ask; What is space and place? Does language play a role in the making of place? To answer these questions, place is generally considered by most people, according to Tuan (1991), to be almost exclusively the result of the material transformation of nature. On the other hand, space can be defined simply as the mode, be it physical or virtual, in which a human’s reality is formed upon. Despite the simplistic, material view that many people hold (Tuan, 1991), space and place is more than just a physical, material happenance on Earth; It is a complex continuum that ranges from direct experience to abstract thoughts and models although these modes are not mutually exclusive of each other and are instead ‘part and parcel’ of ‘human spatial experience’ as part of a ‘lived indivisible whole’ (Lecture week 6 slides). Within this continuum, there are many questions of where this ‘human spatial experience’ starts and ends, which can be seen on Instagram where images of familiar environments such as mountains or rivers can mentally evoke a sense of place within those environments despite not physically  being in that material location. Does space and place exist within Instagram as a sea of memories or just simply virtual space?

References:

Solidum, E. (2019, March 24). Man walking in water with camera. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/BvZKZIpAFpo/?utm_source=ig_embed

Kuttainen, V. (2019). BA1002: Our space: networks, narratives and the making of place, lecture 6 notes [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from: https://learn.jcu.edu.au/ultra/courses/_97532_1/outline/edit/document/_4076338_1?courseId=_97532_1

Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the making of place: A narrative-descriptive approach. Annuals of the Association of American Geographers, 81(4), 684-696. Doi: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2563430