Abstract

This paper investigates how digital media are reshaping users' place experience. It relies on 19 interviews with "hyperconnected" individuals and explores two topics: the social use of digital representations of places; the sociospatial features of the communication environments created by digital media. Firstly, hyperconnected individuals use geographically referenced content to: 1) orient them in physical space; 2) manage symbolic resources in the construction of their identity; 3) socially share spatial experiences. Secondly, as the use of Instant Messaging applications shows, digital media reshape place experience by functioning as mediated environments for social interactions and by affecting the perception of presence/absence.