By Julia Hannafin
A new Yelp feature called Wordmap is an interesting look into the stereotypes of what certain local neighborhoods have to offer. Wordmap shows heat maps that “[show] density of keywords used in Yelp reviews to reveal fascinating patterns of local discovery”. You can choose from 14 major cities, which each have their own set of keywords. San Francisco’s Wordmap, explored in detail by Inside Scoop SF, has a range of keywords, from “hipster” to “noodles” to “bacon.”
In order to check out Berkeley’s own Wordmap, you can click on the San Francisco Wordmap, and scroll over to the East Bay. The most red areas are the places in which Yelp-users really like to use that keyword in reviews of the area! A look at Berkeley’s Wordmap didn’t reveal anything revolutionary, but it’s certainly fun to look at.
What was the keyword that lit up the most of Berkeley? “Cheap” and “patio” were among the most popular.
CHEAP:
PATIO:
PASTA:
HANGOVER:
Words that (unsurprisingly) barely showed up at all on Berkeley’s Wordmap were “tourist,” “valet,” “romantic,” and “sketchy.” “Yuppie” showed a red cluster hovering over Fourth Street, but nowhere else in the city.
Check out Berkeley’s Wordmap for yourself, or plug in another city to see what keywords stuck to what neighborhoods. Any keywords not on the list that you wish were?
Julia Hannafin is a summer intern at Berkeleyside and a student at Columbia University studying creative writing and American studies. She writes for the music blog The Metropolitan Jolt.
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