Geographer
ZHANG Ruihua, FENG Jian
The development of information and communication technology and the penetration of mobile smart devices enable information dissemination and social interaction to overcome the barriers of geographical distance, greatly expanding the scope and depth of interaction between individuals and space. The fusion of real and virtual spaces has led to a new paradigm of individual behavior patterns and research on cyber-mobility. The study of personal mobilities in both physical and virtual spaces has received growing attention by contemporary scholars in geography, sociology, and economics. This article reviewed the geographical research on cyber-mobility from the geographical societal perspectives by Aharon Kellerman, a professor of human geography at the University of Haifa. Based on advanced research and understanding of the time-space framework of personal mobility and geographical interpretations of cyberspace, Kellerman delved into exploring the ways of personal mobilities and spatiotemporal behavior patterns of individuals in the process of using the internet from the dual perspectives of individual "social people" and "incarnations", and further participated in the research in the fields of human behavior patterns, virtual community, virtual activity space, and so on. His theory and empirical research help Chinese scholars to deepen their understanding of the role of virtual space and network technology from both micro and macro perspectives, and the relationship between real and virtual spaces, and to further explore the interactions between individuals and real space and cyberspace and urban space reconstruction.