Geo-tagging is the process of adding geographical details on to media platforms in the form of metadata. The data consists of latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates along with altitude, distance and place. Geotagging is generally used for photographs and helps people know about where the picture was taken or the exact location of a friend who logged on to a service.

Geotagging location services are used to find location-specific websites, news and other information and is often directly retrieved from a global positioning system (GPS).

Nowadays tagging photos is done by the camera after processing the shot or it can be applied when the photo is posted online. Also, most cellphones have built-in GPS so that they can geotag any photos taken using the phone’s camera.

Social networking sites and services give out the location of their users. This allows users to know exactly where the persons are logged on to that website.

Geotagging is a feature on several social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook users geotag photos that can be added to the page of the location they are tagging. A feature allows users to find nearby Facebook friends by generating a list of people through location tracker in their mobile phones.
Instagram uses a map that allows users to geotag photos. The map layout pins down specific photos that the user has taken on a world map.

To integrate geotags in social media and enhance text readability, the concept of 'meetag' or tag-to-meet has been proposed. The meeting includes the geolocation information after an underscore. A meetag is thus a word or an unspaced phrase prefixed with an underscore ("). Words in messages on microblogging and social networking services can be tagged by putting "before them, either as they appear in a sentence or appended to it.

Methods of geo-tagging photographs

Geotagged photos can be visually stamped with their GPS location details using software tools.

• Automatic using a built-in-GPS
• Automatic using a connected GPS
• Synchronizing with a separate GPS
• Manual geotagging
• Remote standoff capture

Steps to geo-tag a photo -

• Collect digital location (latitude/longitude/time coordinates) using a GPS device.
• Match your photos with the location data logged in by your GPS device based on time stamps.
• Embedding the matching location data in the EXIF data of your photos.

Geo-tagging standards in electronic file format

Photographs-

Photos are stored in JPEG, TIFF and many other formats. The geotagging information is embedded in metadata stored in Exchangeable image file format (Exif) or Extensible metadata platform (XMP). These data are read and written by special programs. Latitudinal and longitudinal details are stored in units of degree with decimals.

Remote sensing data-

This stores coordinates of every pixel in the image. Hyperspectral images approach defines a separate file for the same spatial dimensions as the image. Here latitude and longitude of each pixel are stored as two 2D layers called Input geometry data (IGM)
files or GEO files. Another approach is orthophotos where coordinates of four corners are stored and all the other pixels are georeferenced by interpolation.

Audio/ video files-

These are geotagged by metadata, audio encoding, overlay, companion files. Metadata records geospatial data in the encoded video file that is to be decoded for later analysis. The standards used with an automated aerial vehicle is MISB Standard 0601. This allows geocoding of corner points and horizon lines in individual video frames.

SMS messages-

One or more geo URI's are embedded in the body of the SMS for the functioning of geo SMS.

DNS entries-

These records specify the latitude, longitude, altitude, precision of the location, and the physical size of an entity attached to an IP address.

HTML pages-

Geo URL requires ICBM(intercontinental ballistic missile) tags to geotag standard web pages in HTML format.

RDF ( resource development framework) feeds-

Here the information is presented in RDF tags. RDF is defined by the W3(world wide web) group. This was originally designed as a metadata data model. It is used as a method for conceptual elaboration implementing web resource.

Micro-format-

Think allows coordinates with HTML pages to mark up geographic data for any geotagged photo.

Drawbacks of geo-tagging

With the transparency and openness in location updates to the public, the users are exposed to unwanted users knowing their locations.
More vulnerable to privacy being I to other users by sharing location.
Geo-tagging requires users permission before sharing the information but sometimes the info is unknowingly leaked to other users.

Conclusion

Geo-tagging can be beneficial for marketers and businesses as this will help their brand to reach people by setting their location on the web. But when it comes to personal use, the digital enthusiastic people should recognise the fine line that should keep your privacy intact. So it is advisable to keep a check on your frequency of sharing your location as per year requirement.
User should maintain the right amount of balance between professional any personal usage of social media and geo-tagging.

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