A talk on +City given at MIT8 Media in Transition May 4 2013

1. +City Faisal Anwar & Siobhan O’Flynn
Data Visualization’s Troubling of the Digital Public/Private Spheres

2. +city
• what is it?
• analysis of a collective digital psychogeography, documenting the
transformation of public space & public interaction during
Scotabank Nuit Blanche 2010, 2011 & 2012
• an archival tool analyzing twitter hashtag content generated
during the event & impact of digital communications on actions
• a series of data visualizations: mobile app & web-based
• a social experiment in participatory installation SNB 2012
• a granular qualitative analysis & mapping of traces of affect in real-
time & post-event in content uploaded to digital public sphere
• cross-referencing of content on multiple social media platforms:
YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr, Instagram & Twitter

3. Nuit Blanche 2010
what is it?
- mass mobilization of a diverse public(s) actively
seeking art

4. patience.... play....
RT @mypaleskin: This is officially the worst G20 ever. #snbTO
by nparts via twitter at October 2, 2010 11:30:55 PM
EDT
Police officer says all is quiet. "Nothing ever happens at
these things."
by lisleong via twitter at October 3, 2010 1:45:27 AM EDT
peace.... Nuit Blanche 2010
Dundas Square

5. Nuit Blanche 2010
what is it?
- multi-pov / 360 photo/video time-lapse capture of
events
- dispersed across multiple platforms

6. Nuit Blanche 2010
what is it?
- catalyst for guerrilla art projects
- moments documented across platforms

7. Nuit Blanche
- 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 - close to 1 million people participate
- mass mobilization of public(s) networking via social media to
navigate urban space
- conventions of public behaviour change...
- relaxation and transformation of social norms
- changed experience of citizenship
learning outcomes valuable for ...
- understanding influence of social media on embodied action
- future urban planning and policy strategies for the arts & culture
in Toronto
- urban & cultural studies on the creative city
- suggest new methods of design for civic engagement & urban
planning

8. Nuit Blanche
2012 hashtags #snbto 10,000+ tweets
#nuitblanche 14,000+ tweets
2011 hashtags #snbto 8,000+ tweets
#nuitblanche 10,000+ tweets
Twitter as citation system
what does a hashtag signify?
- intention to communicate
with a ‘global’ public
- #snbto - ‘share your night’

9. +City early goal: Geolocate hashtag content in
real time - density/peak map of installation buzz
Invisible Cities Christian Marc Schmidt & Liangie Xia 2010-2011

10. March 2011.. geolocating curtailed

11. Mark Hansen
Ben Rubin
Listening Post
2004
Jonathan Harris
Sep Kamvar
I Want You To
Want Me
2008
prior conventions of ethical practice

12. NY Times Interactive - Cascade. April 2011

13. breaking
news

14. twitter content is hard to retrieve...
retroscraping... topsy.com April 20, 2013

15. SOCIAL MEDIA ARCHIVES
BEHIND THE PAYWALL

16. +city 2013 #HASTAC2013

17. +city 2013 #MIT8

18. Siobhan O’Flynn, PhD
PlusCity Design
University of Toronto
sioflynn@gmail.com
@Sioflynn
pluscity.me
Faisal Anwar
PlusCity Design
faisal.info@gmail.com
@fanwar
pluscity.me