The Social Production of Internet Space: Affordance, Programming, and Virtuality

Abstract

Abstract The Internet has always been understood through spatial terminology—cyberspace, web addresses, sites, domains—but this article argues for moving beyond the metaphors to recognize the Internet as an embodied and socially-produced digital space. Building from a Lefebvrian framework of perceived, conceived, and lived spaces, the article proposes a new model for examining Internet social space, featuring three co-productive spaces: a space of affordance, a space of programming, and a space of virtuality. While our interaction with Internet social space is enabled through affordances, these actions are constrained by the limitations of the Internet's underlying programming. It is possible to subvert this power dynamic through tactical action when we realize that—unlike the spaces of affordance and programming—the space of virtuality is not tethered to any specific program or paradigm, but rather exists across platforms.