Technology, georeferentiation and new territorialities. The case of geocaching

Abstract

When invested in transports, technological innovation has led to the shortening of geographical distances.
However, the development of digital social networks apparently meant a serious step towards a more sedentary way of life. In fact, empirical data do not confirm these deterministic theories. Far from this negative perspective, the democratization of technology proved to be a factor of spatial mobility, avoiding the non therapeutic sedentary lifestyle and even encouraging the experience of travel. Geocaching, as a tourism and leisure practice which is growing particularly in Europe and North America, expresses how the use of new positioning techniques has changed personal territorialities, leading its practitioners to contact places and landscapes which so far revealed little centrality and attractiveness.