Can you see me?

  Taylor Baldwin, Turtle on a Leash

Flaneurs, defined as man who saunters around observing society, are common in all social networks. In the reading a Flaneur is defined as, “Someone adrift in the city, a detached observer strolling through the streets at a leisurely pace” (Prouty, 2009). For people who still don’t really understand the meaning of Flaneur, they are the people who will never say anything but will always be there. They have also been said to be essentially timeless (Stephen, 2013). Traditionally the traits that mark the Flaneur are wealth, education, and idleness (Benjamin, 2007).

https://www.ted.com/talks/aris_venetikidis_making_sense_of_maps

On Facebook you have the power to look at anything and no one will know about it. Whether it’s a particular page or someone’s profile they won’t know you are there, unless you accidentally click ‘send friend request’. I myself could be classed as a Flaneur on Facebook because although I read lots of things I barely ‘like’ or ‘comment’ on them. One way to identify if someone is a Flaneur is by simply looking at their Facebook page. People that are constantly posting and sharing will have this noted on their page. People who don’t often post will have a very blank page. A social media Flaneur may also lurk around and not draw any attention to themselves. They do this because their main goal is to observe rather than be heard.

Denis Wood’s reading explains that maps are correct if they get you to either point a to b or in Facebook’s case page a to page b, (Wood, 2001). Even if a map leaves out some not very specific details it would still be correct. Maps vary depending on the purpose that they serve. There may also be different ways that the required destination may be reached.

Referencing

The Turtle on a Leash, Retrieved from https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/flaneurs-street-rambles#/

Dennis Wood. (2001). Seeing Through Maps. (pp. 5). Townsville, Australia: James Cook University

Prouty, R. (2009, October 28). A Turtle on a Leash. Retrieved from, http://www.onewaystreet.typepad.com/one_way_street/2009/10/a-turtle-on-a-leash.html

Benjamin, W. (2001, December). The Flaneur. Retrieved from, http://www.thelemming.com/lemming/dissertation-web/home/flaneur.html

Stephan, B. (2013, October 17). In Praise of the Flaneur. Retrieved from, http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/10/17/in-praise-of-the-flaneur/