Us and Others

Abstract

Based on the principle of the social production of space, this chapter examines the dual role of digital technologies as technologies of control and technologies of freedom. The structures and biases that are imposed on public space and public life by the mediating role of digital technologies, both on regimes of control and on the exercise of free will in day-to-day life, is articulated. The metaphor of the interface is introduced to encompass commonalities between the affordances of digital technologies and the nature of public space. The role of spatiality in physical public space and the spatial metaphor applied to digital “spaces” is expanded upon.