Geographical map annotation with significant tags available from social networks

In this chapter we describe how it is possible to extract relevant information on a geographical area from the information that users share and provide by means of their mobiles or personal digital assistants thanks to Web 2.0 applications like OpenStreetMap, Geonames, Flickr, GoogleMaps, etc. These Web 2.0 applications represent, store and process information in a XML format. We analyze and use this information to enrich the content of the cartographic map of a given geographical area. The aim is to enrich the content of the map with up-to date information. In addition we provide a characterization of the map by selection of the annotations that differentiate the given map from the surrounding areas. This occurs by means of statistical tests on the annotations frequency in the different geographical areas. We present the results of an experimental section in which we show that the content characterization is meaningful, statistically significant and usefully concise.