Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
ARCHTHEO22 , İstanbul, Türkiye, 18 Kasım 2022, ss.120-130
ABSTRACT
In the ancient Greek city-state, the common area used by the people comes to life in the agora (Habermas,
1999, pp. 59–61). It is known that the agora was a focal point of the city where many social, political, or
commercial events that interact with the people. Digital agora can be defined as an electronic place for
citizens that is created online (Kirk, R., Schill, D., 2011) as an interactive screen technology as a component
of urban infrastructure and monumental multimedia public venue (Fortin, C., Hennessy, K., 2014) or as a
software component that enhances the awareness of users with common interests and generates
communication and collaboration opportunities among them (Sánchez, J. A., Fernández, L., & Schnase, J. L.,
1998). With a perspective from antiquity to futurism, In this study digital agora has defined a space that
not only consists of physical space but keeps up with the "new" by being supported by a digital platform.
With the acceptance that the state of being one with the society, which determines the meaning of the public
space, is only possible through the interaction of emotions between individuals; It is aimed to question the
technologic supportive aspect of the chaotic public space which is a metaphoric and interactive space while
at the same time it must not completely be disconnected from the physical real space and emotional. It has
been found important in this study to discuss the digital agora approach to ensure communication of each
user, whose demographic structure is different from today's technological point of view by uniting in a
common interface.
With a perspective from antiquity to futurism, the questioning of the "digital agora", the meaning of public
space and public space experiences are examined through changing life practices. Individuals with digital
agora experiences; while preserving the image of belonging and existence given by the traditional, it also
interacts with a global flow of information. In this context, it is aimed to research digital agora which is
planned to use by digital humans. Digital agora is a new public space that is the interaction area of the
citizens. According to this hypothesis, It will be examined who is digital humans, today's generation and
their predecessors and how they use the digital agora the up-to-date examples in the Pandemic times.
The methodology of the study is determined to discuss digital people over the digital native and digital
immigrant models defined by Prensky (2011a). How the dynamics of the space should be according to the
digital agora user defined in these models has been researched. It has been concluded that the digital agora
has turned into a common interaction platform that unites the "native" and "immigrant" users.
Today the meaning of social activity is transferred from public spaces to virtual spaces, and in postindustrial cities, the agora has been transferred to electronic media. The role of information technologies
during the pandemic period has been to transform digital spaces into a platform where information is
shared and individual interactions are possible. In this sense, it can be said that the pandemic has brought
a different dimension to the interaction of individuals in the city and to the way they use real places.