Ever since Google Maps appeared on the scene with its accessible API, people have been creating their own maps. Platial is a collaborative mapping site where users can select a location and annotate it as they see fit, allowing users to create and view very personal and idiosyncratic maps. Such a system can rapidly get disorganized and difficult to navigate. Accessing features through tags is certainly helpful but depends primarily on users having a fairly similar definition of how things should be tagged.

MapHub works in a similar fashion but appears to be more focussed than Platial and does not use a Google Maps base. MapHub allows for user input, just like Platial but also allows the person setting up the map to customize its appearance. MapHub’s biggest limitation is that it only features a map for the city of Pittsburgh. No wonder if there are any planned expansions to other cities or if this is strictly a Pittsburgh-based project.

By way of Great Map