Cloud Communities and Travel Diaries. Virtual Representations of Tourist Areas

Authors

  • Marco Platania University of Catania
  • Salvo Torre University of Catania

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2036-5195/4352

Keywords:

Virtual Landscape, Cloud Communities, Travel Diary, Text Mining

Abstract

Collective construction of descriptions can radically change the image of an area. This uncontrollable process is destined to become one of the main priority research areas also in tourism studies. The spread of Web sites in which telling stories and descriptions of territories has become a significant element in the network society, and the growing use of social networks and cloud communities, often in planning tourism, contributes to social description of touristic landscapes and influence the collective imaginary. In social space, territories are the result of the superposition of different layers, from the real one to the virtual, bound to a constant exchange of information. This phenomenon that could guide tourist attraction, begins to affect the choices of local institutions and residents.
The aim of the paper is to give an interpretation on the construction of collective representation, which takes place, after the journey, through the on-line publication of a diary. The research is divided into two parts. In the first, we explain some theoretical aspects related to the representation of the travel, the sharing of information in virtual form and the construction of an imaginary touristic. Subsequently, are taken into account the results obtained in previous studies related to the analysis of the narratives of tourism experiences, shared within virtual spaces freely accessible on the net. These results will be used to develop a model of interpretation on the virtual representation of tourist areas.

References

Albanese, O., Ligorio, M. B. & Zanetti, M. A., (2012). Identità, apprendimento e comunità virtuali. Strumenti e attività online. Milano: FrancoAngeli.

Bakardjieva, M. (2003). Virtual togetherness: an everyday-life perspective. Media, Culture & Society, 25, 291–313.

Castells, M. (1996). The rise of the network society. Oxford: Blackwells.

Carrington, P., Scott J., & Wasserman S. (2005). Models and Methods in Social Network Analysis. Cambridge MA: Cambridge University Press.

Chandler, D. (1995). The Act of Writing: A Media Theory Approach. Aberystwyth: Prifysgol Cymru.

Cosgrove, D. (1984). Social formation and symbolic landscape. London: Croom Helm.

Crick, M. (1989). Representations of International Tourism in the Social Sciences: Sun, Sex, Sights, Savings, and Servility. Annual Review of Anthropology, 18, 307-344.

Dalli, D., & Romani, S. (2000). Il comportamento del consumatore: teoria e applicazioni di marketing. Milano: Franco Angeli.

Davis, S. G. (1999). Landscapes of Imagination: Tourism in Southern California. Pacific Historical Review, 68, 173-191.

DeLyser, D. (2003). Ramona Memories: Fiction, Tourist Practices, and Placing the Past in Southern California. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 93, 4, 886-908.

Derrida, J., & Stiegler, B. (1997). Ecografia della televisione. Milano: Cortina.

Di Fraia, G. (2007). Blog-grafie. Identità narrative in rete. Milano: Guerini.

Dioguardi, V. (2009). L'immagine della destinazione turistica come costruzione sociale. Milano: Franco Angeli.

Frazzica, G. (2010). Rappresentazioni della Sicilia. Un’indagine quali-quantitativa. Milano: Franco Angeli.

Garibaldi, R. & Peretta, R., eds. (2011). Facebook in tourism. Destinazioni turistiche e social network. Milano: Franco Angeli.

Gehl, R. W. (2011). The Archive and the Processor: The Internal Logic of Web 2.0. New Media & Society, 13, 1228-1244

Giaccardi, C. & Magatti, M. (2003). L’io globale. Dinamiche della socialità contemporanea. Roma: Laterza.

González, M., Hidalgo, C. & Barabási, A.-L. (2008). Understanding individual human mobility patterns. Nature, 453, 5: 779–782.

Hall, D. R. (1999). Representations of Place: Albania. The Geographical Journal, 165, 2, 161-172.

Hobsbawm, E., & Ranger, T. (1983). The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge-New York: Cambridge University Press.

Kien-Weng Tan, L., Na, J.-C., & Theng, Y.-L. (2011). Influence detection between blog posts through blog features, content analysis, and community identity. Online Information Review, 35, 3, 425-442.

Lancia, F. (2004). Strumenti per l’analisi dei testi. Introduzione all’uso di T-LAB. Milano: Franco Angeli.

Leed, E. J. (1992). La mente del viaggiatore. Dall’Odissea al turismo globale. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Lefebvre, H. (2000). La production de l’espace. Paris: Ed. Anthropos.

Lowenthal, D. (1975). Past Time, Present Place: Landscape and Memory. Geographical Review, 65, 1, 1-36.

Lowenthal, D. (1998). Possessed by the past. The heritage crusade and the spoil of history. Cambridge – New York: Cambridge University Press.

Magazzino, C., & Mantovani, M. (2012). L'impatto delle produzioni cinematografiche sul turismo. Il caso del Commissario Montalbano per la provincia di Ragusa. Rivista di Scienze del Turismo, 1, 29-42.

Mascheroni, G. (2007). Le comunità viaggianti. Socialità reticolare e mobile dei viaggiatori indipendenti. Milano: Franco Angeli.

O'reilly, T. (2007). What is Web 2.0: Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software. Communications & strategies, 65.

Pizzoleo, A. G. (2002). Internet provider di rapporti sociali. Identità e socializzazione in rete. In: M. Morcellini, A. Pizzoleo (Ed.), Net sociology. Milano: Guerini e associati.

Platania, M., & Torre, S. (2012). Landscapes from cloud communities. Virtualization of island territories in a network society. Paper presentato alla conferenza European Culture expressed in Island Landscapes, Sassari, Italy.

Platania, M., & Torre, S. (2013). Territori turistici nell’immaginario collettivo. Viralità delle informazioni sul web e costruzione della rappresentazione delle città. In: C. Cirelli, M. Giannone, E. Nicosia (Ed.), Percorsi creativi di turismo urbano. I luoghi dell’entertainment nella città del tempo libero. Bologna: Pàtron.

Rheingold, H. (1994). Comunità virtuali. Milano: Sperling & Kupfer.

Rheingold, H. (2002). Smart mobs: The next social revolution. Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus.

Schianchi, A., & Franchi, M. (2011). Scegliere nel tempo di Facebook. Come i social network influenzano le nostre preferenze. Milano: Carocci.

Trobia, A. (2005). La ricerca sociale quali-quantitativa. Milano: Franco Angeli.

Trobia, A., & Milia, V. (2011). Social Network Analysis. Approcci, tecniche e nuove applicazioni. Roma: Carocci.

Turri, E. (1998). Il paesaggio come teatro. Dal territorio vissuto al territorio rappresentato. Marsilio: Venezia.

Wang, V., Tucker, J. V., & Haines K. (2013). Viewing Cybercommunities through the Lens of Modernity: The Case of Second Life. International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking, 5, 1, 75-90.

Published

2014-06-10

How to Cite

Platania, M., & Torre, S. (2014). Cloud Communities and Travel Diaries. Virtual Representations of Tourist Areas. Almatourism - Journal of Tourism, Culture and Territorial Development, 5(1), 36–56. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2036-5195/4352