Awkward_NYC/Awkward_Everywhere is a collaborative online map for reporting social accidents and small interpersonal traumas that occur unexpectedly in public spaces. Anyone can add a story to the map. The map pinpoints sites in the New York Metropolitan area or anywhere in the world where misunderstandings, outbursts, physical altercations, arguments between friends or strangers, and romantic spats or break-ups have occurred. It taps into the confessional, voyeuristic, narrative impulses that typify online behavior and subverts the notion of mapping as reductive, objective, and authoritative. As stories are added to the map, a series of data visualizations depicting the emotional terrain of various cities will be generated.

with funds from the Jerome Foundation