Dear all, Since the mailing list is particularly active for some unknown reason, now might be a good time to announce that my new book "*Maps as Media*" is out, globally. It unpacks mapping as media platforms and infrastructures through a conceptual framework and four thematic chapter (movement, play, work, surveillance) and should be interesting to many of this list: '*Maps as Media* invites readers to navigate its many pathways, revealing at every turn Gekker's acute sensitivity to mapping as a living, shifting practice.' Lisa Parks, University of California–Santa Barbara 'Through a thoroughly interdisciplinary analysis, this book provides a compelling rethinking of maps as platformed media. A critical text for understanding media and maps and their interplay in the digital era.' Rob Kitchin, Maynooth University https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=maps-as-media--978150955012... <https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=maps-as-media--9781509550128> ==== And if you are in or around Amsterdam, you are cordially invited to join the joint book launch with Anne Helmond and Fernando van der Vlist's excellent new "*Platforms: A Critical Introduction*", taking place at VOX-POP on October 29, 15:00. https://voxpop.uva.nl/en/content/events/2026/10/the-power-of-platforms-and-m... ==== Full description: Maps have escaped from the confines of road atlases or decorative frames to being ubiquitous on our screens. Using a GPS while driving, looking for a shop on Google Maps, or tracking a food delivery – all involve some form of digital maps. Rather than depicting existing reality, maps are active agents in changing it, all the while making use of personalization algorithms, content curation and other techniques that are pervasive in digital media. In doing so, maps are reorienting our geography and further fracturing shared reality into individual spaces. *Maps as Media* investigates digital maps as new media objects. Combining perspectives from media studies, critical cartography, and science and technology studies, the book examines the transformation of mapping from a specialized domain into a commonplace media practice. Alex Gekker argues that maps are reactive and reflective, fuelled by the ability of software to track, adapt and update. This naturalized state of digital maps allows them to become powerful tools for those wishing to exert power on their end-users. As a growing number of digital technologies integrate GPS and other spatial awareness into their core functionality, this book asks what happens when maps *become* media. Original and thought-provoking, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Media and Communication Studies, Geography, and Science and Technology Studies. Kind regards, Alex Dr. Alex Gekker. Assistant Professor in Digital Research Methods; Programme Director, MA New Media and Digital Culture; *Department of Media Studies, University of Amsterdam. * 📚 My latest book, Maps as Media, is now available from Polity: https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=9781509550128 *Profile and publications* <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6042-2086> // *a.gekker@uva.nl* <a.gekker@uva.nl> // X: *@AlexGekker * <http://twitter.com/alexgekker> // mastodon *@gekker@aoir.social* <https://aoir.social/@gekker> Recent works include: A post-mortem of Google's Stadia as an "Infrastructural Hubris", <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2691776> LLMs as ‘general-purpose’ promise in the autonomous vehicle industry <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2689026>, an <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2631709>analysis <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2631709> of 69k patents on how the car industry sees <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2631709>“ <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2631709>the cloud <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2631709>” <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2631709>, and this special issue on <https://www.mediapolisjournal.com/2025/11/playable-cities-intro/>Playable <https://www.mediapolisjournal.com/2025/11/playable-cities-intro/> Cities <https://www.mediapolisjournal.com/2025/11/playable-cities-intro/>