Viral cartographies and fake maps on social media platforms

Abstract

The Internet and social media have made a considerable contribution to the accelerated circulation and diffusion of information. News about people, things, and events frequently spread rapidly without a verification of their truthfulness and open space for fake news and “alternative facts”. This also refers to maps that are posted on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and frequently draw the attention of users and provoke reactions. In this context, the aim of this paper is to discuss maps posted on the Internet in post-truth times and in the light of a critical reading of reality. The paper discusses characteristics of these viral cartographies and fake maps and analyzes maps uploaded to and spread by cartography-themed online platforms. These examples show the reactivity of maps as arguments and ways of world-making that go far beyond the mere graphic representation of a theme or fact, that merge with political worldviews, moral values and cultural prejudice, and require new methodologies for map studies.