UMBC's GIS Graduate Programs hosted a webinar on Thursday, May 9, 2013. Guest speakers, Abe Usher, from the HumanGeo Group, and Richard Heimann, from Data Tactics Corp, discussed Big Social Data: The Spatial Turn in Big Data. This webinar was designed to focus on substantive social science research perspectives while exposing rewards involved in the application of geographic information systems (GIS), Big Data, and spatial analytics in their own research. Highlighting connections between spatial concepts and data availability, new emerging social media data will be promoted over traditional social science data, which better reflect some of the more recently developments in Big Data - most notably the socially critical exploration of such data. This webinar taught about: New potentials to social scientific research, Rewards involving the application of geographic information systems (GIS), Big Data, and spatial analytics, How individuals and non-government organizations are fueling a bonfire of innovation in the world of GIS data, Innovative connections between spatial concepts and data availability, and New emerging social media data that is being promoted over traditional social science data.