The Beat shows geotagged Instagram photos on Google Street View

This photo was found in a search for #lensflare. The striking Instagram photo of the wheat field at sunset is displayed next to the hazy and mundane Google Street View scene.

The Social Media Information Lab and Rutgers University has created a new way to look at Instagram hashtags. The Beat places public Instagram photos on Google Maps with their geotags, creating an intriguing look at the social network's imagery in situ.  

Instagram included location mapping earlier this year. When turned on, the service will automatically save newly uploaded photos to a user's Photo Map.

On The Beat, you can browse photos by entering your desired hashtag in the search bar. The Beat then displays photos tagged with your search term with a Google Street View photo from where the photo was taken.

Some tags are what you would expect. Search #sanfrancisco and you get a stream of photos from Lombard  Street and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Other hashtags are surprisingly revealing. A search for #boring created a stream of self-shots of students at the library, passengers suffering through long car trips and moody teens waiting for the school bus. These normally mundane photos are given a global context when paired with the Street View photos and streamed in succession. 

The Beat shows that even in picturesque farm houses in Belgium, there is a student whining about their boring homework.

Browse The Beat here.