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Environmental Factors Affecting Where People Geocache

Author

Listed:
  • Jennifer Golbeck

    (College of Information Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA)

  • Carman Neustaedter

    (School of Interactive Arts and Technology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada)

Abstract

Outdoor leisure activities are important for public health as well as family cohesiveness, yet environmental factors may easily affect someone’s ability to participate in such activities. We explored this with a focus on the social web-based treasure hunt game called Geocaching. We collected data on all US and Canadian geocaches from OpenCaching.com and conducted an online survey with twenty geocachers as a follow-up to our data analysis. Data analysis showed that geocaches were more often found in areas that were wealthier, better educated, younger, and more urban, and had higher population density and better weather. Survey results showed similar trends: Most people actively thought about where they would cache and tried to minimize risks, despite cache hiders thinking less about these concerns. These results further emphasize the importance of environmental factors when it comes to participation in outdoor activities and leads to Human–Computer Interaction design implications for location-based online social activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Golbeck & Carman Neustaedter, 2016. "Environmental Factors Affecting Where People Geocache," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-6, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jftint:v:8:y:2016:i:2:p:11-:d:68046
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sara Wilcox & Melissa Bopp & Larissa Oberrecht & Sandra K. Kammermann & Charles T. McElmurray, 2003. "Psychosocial and Perceived Environmental Correlates of Physical Activity in Rural and Older African American and White Women," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 58(6), pages 329-337.
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    Cited by:

    1. Salvatore Carta & Ludovico Boratto, 2016. "Introduction to the Special Issue on Human–Computer Interaction and the Social Web," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-2, September.

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