Peer-Reviewed Journal Details
Mandatory Fields
Power, MJ; Neville, P; Devereux, E; Haynes, A; Barnes, C
2013
New Media & Society
Why Bother Seeing the World for Real?: Google Street View and the Representation of a Stigmatised Neighbourhood
Published
()
Optional Fields

We examine how an Irish stigmatised neighbourhood is represented by Google Street View. In spite of Google’s claims that Street View allows for ‘a virtual reflection of the real world to enable armchair exploration’ (McClendon, 2010). We show how it is directly implicated in the politics of representations. We focus on the manner in which Street View has contributed to the stigmatisation of a marginalised neighbourhood. Methodologically, we adopt a rhetorical/structuralist analysis of the images of Moyross present on Street View. While Google has said the omissions were ‘for operational reasons’, we argue that a wider social and ideological context may have influenced Google’s decision to exclude Moyross. We examine the opportunities available for contesting such representations, which have significance for the immediate and longterm future of the estate, given the necessity to attract businesses into Moyross as part of the ongoing economic aspect of the regeneration of this area.

Sage: London
http://nms.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/12/06/1461444812465138
10.1177/1461444812465138
Grant Details