A map of the social space

As the British summer is looking so darn awful it’s definitely time to escape the eternal rain, so you might want to choose a lovely location from around the world by putting a pin into a map of the world and jetting off there!

But if you (like us) are addicted to the recent social networking phenomena like Facebook and MySpace you may want to take a look at this new Social Networking map to escape… and place your finger on the next sunny virtual destination – rather than real one . . .

This treasure style map, created by the guy behind xkcd.com, provides a creative depiction of the mass of online communities that have been conquering the internet in recent times.

We have already seen map-like depictions of countries based on pretty much anything: worldwide gasoline prices, polluting nations, income, internet diffusion… or the other way around! Similar to these, this nifty map of Online Communities shows how sites like Facebook, Myspace, Friendster, Xanga, Orkut, and Second Life dominate the world.

The actual design and geography are not as random as it might initially look like…
Country size and position are significant. Each community’s geographic area represents its estimated size, and the ‘compass-rose’ next to the “straits of web 2.0” gives clues as to what each quarter signifies:

* Practical’ communities in the North.
* Nerdy and intellectual ones in the South.
* Communities connected to real life on the West.
* Those with a focus on the web itself on the East.

To check it out, visit: XKCD here