Geo tagging: what is it and what for?

Social networks available via phones onall over the world, imposes a certain imprint on people's lives. They want to share not only photos, videos and thoughts, but also where they are. Noting places on the map, you can later return there in memories. For this, geo-tagging is also needed.

What it is?

The progenitor of this phenomenon, perhaps, isconsider the inscriptions on the back of the photos, which, probably, everyone met, looking through the old family album. Now, when memorable shots most often do not have physical media, and are viewed only on the screen of a digital device, so-called geo-positioning or geo-tagging comes to the rescue. What it is?

Gigabytes daily generated by usersInternet media content contain a lot of information. Among other things, now it is possible to embed there information about the current whereabouts of a person uploading a photo, video or just an article to the network. It is enough just to select the appropriate item, for example "To specify the location", after which the device will determine its coordinates and offer them as a binding. So geo-tagging on your phone or computer is just a couple of extra clicks. But really this was a real need?

History of development

Not everyone knows that every modernthe photograph contains the so-called metadata: the date and time of shooting, the camera model, the mode, etc. Among other things, there are coordinates, as well as altitude, and this is also geo-tagging. What is this in terms of technology? Just another module, which is now almost everywhere.

This is made possible through a globalpositioning - GPS. Initially, this technology, developed in the 1970s, was available only to the US military, but later it was used by everyone. The benefit of this system is difficult to overestimate, because it is used, among other things, by scientists in their studies.

Modern use of GPS

Global positioning system thanks tothe ubiquitous presence of receivers has been successfully applied in many spheres of life. First, it is used by rescuers, in order not to lose time, to send help to someone who dials their number. Secondly, geologists and surveyors, like cartographers, can thus facilitate their work. In addition, using GPS, you can navigate almost any transport in the world. Finally, not so long ago, this technology was also adopted by marketers - with some settings of the smartphone, after being in a certain zone, you can get a message, for example, about a restaurant or a store nearby. Fortunately, this is not yet a very popular solution.

And GPS and geo-tagging are great helpfor the traveler. Instead of using a photo album and relying on imperfect human memory, you can upload a photo into a special program that will place the flags and frames on the world map. In addition, the most popular social networks and completely recognize this information automatically.

Prospects

The vast majority of information,accompanied by notes on the location, these are photographs. And no wonder: the craving of people to see the world, the popularity of blogs about travel - all this has made geo-tagging highly demanded. What does this mean? That, if desired, you can track the movements of each particular user. Of course, it is a personal matter for every person to disclose such information about himself or not, but GPS modules are already built into a lot of devices, and not all of them are puzzling. So you can provide such information to all comers, even without knowing it. Of course, geo-tagging is convenient, but it's worth remembering that each medal has two sides.