But it's also a free web-based tool that has some practical uses for a nonprofit organization that is seeking to build an online community, or that wants to try geographic information systems on a very simple scale.
Let's say that you are just starting to foster an online community of constituents, donors, or other stakeholders. Perhaps you're using an email distribution list, or a wiki, or an web-based message board; if members of the community haven't met face to face, then it's difficult for them to picture other members of the group as real people or to have a sense of where in the world they work or live.
Here are a couple of examples of Frappr maps that I've started for email distribution lists that I moderate:
In each case, Frappr allows members of the email distribution list to:
Get a sense of the geographic diversity of the community
Post photos or capsule biographies of themselves that are associated with an electronic pushpin on the map
Use electronic pushpins to identify places of potential interest to other members of the group
Post photos or capsule biographies of themselves that are associated with an electronic pushpin on the map
Use electronic pushpins to identify places of potential interest to other members of the group
It's not perfect, but then Frappr is still in the beta testing stage. Here are a few problems I see in the current version:
I haven't figured out away to
integrate it seamlessly with an email distribution list service such as
YahooGroups. It would be great if new members had the option of
registering for both the Mission-Based Massachusetts email distribution list and the Mission-Based Massachusetts Frappr map in a single process.
With a large group such as the Information Systems Forum, there never seem to be as many electronic pushpins on the Frappr map as there are folks who have added their coordinates for inclusion.
As a default, when a new person registers to be on a Frappr map, they are asked to designate themselves as "male" or "female." This tends to annoy transgender folks, or give the impression that the tool is more oriented to dating than to a range of professional purposes.
With a large group such as the Information Systems Forum, there never seem to be as many electronic pushpins on the Frappr map as there are folks who have added their coordinates for inclusion.
As a default, when a new person registers to be on a Frappr map, they are asked to designate themselves as "male" or "female." This tends to annoy transgender folks, or give the impression that the tool is more oriented to dating than to a range of professional purposes.
Still, Frappr is a terrific way to get acclimated to using GIS, without having to buy expensive licenses or install sophisticated software. You can use it to figure out whether your stakeholders respond favorably to mapping tools - if they do, then you can start paying significant sums of money for a solution that's customizable, stable, and mature.
