Consumerism and Surveillance in Leighton Evans and Michael Saker’s Location-Based Social Media: Space, Time, and Identity

Abstract

In Location-Based Social Media: Space, Time, and Identity, Leighton Evans and Michael Saker present a comprehensive way of thinking about Location-Based Social Media Networking (LBSN) for a scholarly audience. The most basic understanding of LBSN is the act of “checking in” and sharing a location across a social network. However, Evans and Saker explain that this act of marking a physical presence in a place at a particular time creates profound effects on spatiality, identity, and temporality. Using Evans and Saker’s work as a starting base for understanding the effects of LBSN on the individual, I study the implications of LBSN features in monolithic social media platforms as a tool for consumerism and surveillance for marketers, the state, and everyday individuals.