THE DIGITAL AGORA AND ITS PLAYERS – A BRIEF ANALYSIS
THE DIGITAL AGORA AND ITS PLAYERS – A BRIEF ANALYSIS

Summary/Abstract: This article is aimed at identifying and analysing some of the relevant features of the new digital technologies that are influencing our manner of reflecting upon, debating and getting involved in the significant social and political issues nowadays. The way we are constructing, expressing or sharing our ideas in addition to our decision to give votes or to choose a favorite party, a candidate or an ideology – all these actions could be linked to a very sophisticated machinery of power and control. The digital spectacle involves not only the main characters – citizens and political agents – but also hidden protagonists like tech corporations, artificial intelligence bots, trolls, algorithms, abstract residents and entities of the infosphere. Paradoxical though it may seem, we have to be aware of all these hidden characters and agendas, we must struggle to understand the big picture and the details of a multifaceted phenomenon, as well. This article is a brief reflection on digital technologies and the fact that they can be regarded as valuable tools only if we properly assess their full range of benefits and costs.

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