rivista - Index of - Associazione Italiana di Sociologia

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PROCESSI E ISTITUZIONI CULTURALI
Pratiche culturali e reti di consumo
Luoghi plurali e nuove forme di partecipazione
N°3 – 2013
ISSN 2036-9700
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PIC-AIS
Cultura e Comunicazione
Culture and Communication
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&RQVLJOLRVFLHQWL¿FR
Fausto Colombo (coordinatore)
Mihaela Gavrila, Giulio Lughi, Barbara Mazza, Paola Parmiggiani, Walter Privitera, Giovanna Vingelli
Responsabili della redazione di questo numero
Mihaela Gavrila, Barbara Mazza
3URJHWWRJUD¿FRHLPSDJLQD]LRQH
Carmine Piscopo
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CREDITS
pag. 2
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Sommario
Forword/Premessa
di Fausto Colombo
Rivista Pic-Ais pag. 4
Cultura e Comunicazione
Introduction
di Barbara Mazza
pag. 5
THE PRODUCTION OF DIGITAL NARRATIVE FORMS
Video-memorials: a case of emotional Grassroots Culture
di Alessandra Micalizzi pag. 11
“I wanna be like Sailor Moon”. Media and gender socializa-
tion process di Alessandro Porrovecchio Gender differences in online consumption and content pro-
duction among Italian undergraduate students
di Arianna Mainardi, Andrea Mangiatordi, Marina Micheli, Francesca Scenini Participation and responsible consumption in the practice of contemporary barter
di Giulia Airaghi
SOCIAL ACTIVISM AND PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY
Participatory culture and collective satire: the Spinoza.it case di Mattia S. Gangi, Serena Gennaro, Christian Ruggiero
pag. 26
pag. 39
pag. 54
pag. 65
Structure of Communications and Narrative Construction of Social Movements within Social Networking Sites: the Pur-
ple People’s experience
di 0DULR2UH¿FH
pag. 78
Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Me-
dia: L’Aquila post-quake situation
di Angelo Jonas Imperiale
pag. 92
1RQSUR¿WEHWZHHQVRFLDOQHWZRUNVDQGVRFLDOFDSLWDO
di Stefania Carulli pag. 132
Pratiche culturali e reti di consumo.
N°3 – 2013
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Forword/Premessa
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Rivista Pic-Ais Cultura e Comunicazione
di Fausto Colombo, Coordinator PIC-AIS
fausto.colombo@unicatt.it
With this special issue, the “Culture and Communication” journal , pro-
moted by the “Processes and cultural institutions” AIS section (Italian $VVRFLDWLRQRI6RFLRORJ\UHYDPSVLWVUROHLQWKHVFLHQWL¿FFRPPXQLW\
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researchers, internationalization, open debate with the Italian society. The journal, in fact, is directed towards the same direction, offering itself as a point of reference for those who are interested in studying the trends RI UHVHDUFK LQ ,WDO\ LQ WKH FRPSOH[ ¿HOG RI VRFLRORJ\ RI FXOWXUH DQG
communication.
Journals, conferences, workshops and training activities are essential to-
ols for a national community of scholars who wants: to grow and to evol-
ve, to compare without false modesty with the wider international com-
munity, to introduce new points of views, not just to follow easy trends, EXWWRGHOYHLQWRWKHVFLHQWL¿FWUDGLWLRQRIWKHSUHVHQWVRFLDOSKHQRPHQD
and the challenge this poses to women and men today.
Con questa special issue la rivista “Cultura e comunicazione”, promos-
sa dalla sezione “Processi e istituzioni culturali” dell’AIS (Associazione ,WDOLDQDGL6RFLRORJLDULODQFLDLOSURSULRUXRORQHOODFRPXQLWjVFLHQWL¿FD
Promozione dei giovani ricercatori, internazionalizzazione, dibattito aperto con la società italiana sono i punti fermi della sezione e della sua attività, e la rivista si incanala nella stessa direzione, offrendosi come punto di riferimento per chi sia interessato a studiare le tendenze della ri-
cerca in Italia nel complesso campo della sociologia della cultura e della comunicazione.
Riviste, convegni, workshop, attività formative sono strumenti essenziali per una comunità nazionale di studiosi che voglia crescere e far crescere, che si voglia confrontare senza false modestie con la più vasta comunità internazionale, e che punti a un continuo aggiornamento dei propri punti di vista, non per inseguire facili mode, ma per posare uno sguardo ben UDGLFDWRQHOODWUDGL]LRQHVFLHQWL¿FDVXLIHQRPHQLVRFLDOLGHOSUHVHQWHH
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Introduction
di Barbara Mazza, 0HPEHURI3,&$,66FLHQWL¿F&RXQFLO
barbara.mazza@uniroma1.it
The papers published in this issue of the journal Cultura e Comuni-
cazione, Rivista della Sezione Processi e Istituzioni Culturali (PIC) dell’Associazione Italiana di Sociologia (AIS) were presented on Sep-
tember 20, 2012 at the workshop Production of digital narrative forms and development of a participatory culture, organized in Milan by AIS-PIC (Associazione Italiana di Sociologia, Sezione Processi e Istitu-
zioni Culturali), in accordance with COST Action ISO906 Transforming Audiences, Transforming Societies). The aim of the workshop was to make Italian young scholars in Audience Studies and in Sociology of Communication meet some well-known European scholars in the same ¿HOG
In order to organize the workshop, the board of the AIS-PIC asked Nico Carpentier, Sonia Livingstone, Peter Lunt and Kim Schroedern.1 to act as referees and discussants for the workshop, and launched a call for papers open to under 35 years old Italian scholars. The goal was to leave the maximum degree of freedom in presenting approaches and areas of study and analysis on the culture of conver-
gence and the rapid spread of various forms of participatory digital pro-
duction-mediated.
We publish here the choosen papers (8 on the more than 20 abstract pre-
sented), reviewed after the workshop on the basis of notes and observa-
tion made by the discussant.
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that relate to the cultural sensitivity of young researchers, even indepen-
1 Nico Carpentier is Associate Professor at the Communication Studies De-
partment of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB - Free University of Brussels) and Lecturer at Charles University in Prague. Sonia Livingstone is Professor of Social Psychology, Department of Media and Communications at The London School of Eco-
onomics and Political Science (LSE), Kim Christian Schrøder, is Head of Department of Communication, Journalism and Computer Science at the Roskilde Universitetscen-
ter, Peter Lunt is Head of Department of Media and Communication at University of Leicester.
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dently of the guidelines for the study of various schools of belonging, DQGDERYHDOOUHÀHFWWKHUHTXLUHGGHSWKRQZKLFKWKHHQWLUHLQWHUQDWLRQDO
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Both dimensions of analysis are part of a perspective that considers our cultural landscape transformed by the rapid diffusion of various partici-
patory forms of digitally-mediated production. We can observe an explo-
sion of independently produced digital contents such as stories, video do-
cumentaries, music, free software, whose creation processes spring from the spontaneous cooperation between skilled amateurs. These new milieu is usually described as the concrete display of a “convergent culture”, a term that has been coined by Jenkins (2006) in order to describe «a move IURPPHGLXPVSHFL¿FFRQWHQWWRZDUGFRQWHQWWKDWÀRZVDFURVVPXOWLSOH
media channels (...), and toward ever more complex relations between top-down corporate media and bottom-up participatory culture» (Ivi, p. 243). The culture of convergence is nurtured by the “produser” (Bruns, 2006;; 2008), a new hybrid social agent representing the merging of pro-
ducer and consumer in an interactive and participative environment. Exploiting all the highly participatory potentialities of digital media, the-
se mobile communities of “user-generators”, “prosumers,” “tactical me-
dia interventionists”, and other ‘maker’ identities are challenging tradi-
tional divides between industrial production and consumption practices. Media professionalism seem displaced by spontaneous forms of mass FROODERUDWLRQDQGÀH[LEOHFRPPXQLW\EXLOGLQJZLWKLQZKLFKVRFLDODQG
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These deep and rapid changes ask for a rethinking of those categories through which media studies have traditionally conceptualized and in-
quired mediated communication processes. We cannot avoid to ask if ERWWRPXS ÀH[LEOH DQG PXOWLGLUHFWLRQDO SURFHVVHV UHDOO\ UHSUHVHQW WKH
majority of contemporary media audience. Are we able to exclude, with the help of empirically funded arguments, that traditional forms of pas-
sive and dispersed media reception have been completely replaced by an active and participatory cooperation between internet-savvy produ-
ser? In parallel, we cannot disregard the socio-technical infrastructure within which convergent culture is spreading. The relationship between top-down business and grassroots, spontaneous and open-handed cultu-
ral practices need to be explored in all its constitutive ambiguity. Not only media industries have not disappeared, but the control of many of WKHLQWHUIDFHVWKDWIDFLOLWDWHWKHVHSDUWLFLSDWRU\SURFHVVHVDUH¿UPO\LQWKH
hands of big companies. Power dynamics in organizations or ephemeral communities of Web 2.0 environment elicit relevant issues like exploita-
tion of leisure time of audiences, risks of surveillance and interveillance, potential democratization of cultural citizenship. Introduction
BARBARA
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pag. 6
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The web is a multi-faceted context where diverse cultural spaces are overlapping and establishing themselves under differentiated horizons of YDOXHVSRZHUFRQ¿JXUDWLRQDQGOLQJXLVWLFFRQYHQWLRQV7KHUHLVWKHQHHG
to map these multiple geographies in order to uncover the variable thick-
QHVVRIFRQYHUJHQWFXOWXUH3DWWHUQVRIFXOWXUDOÀRZVLGHQWLW\H[SUHVVLRQ
social dynamics of cooperation or disaggregation, interactive or partici-
patory frames, constitute the background issues that should to be rescued from the rhetoric of newness surrounding the digital media ecology. 6SHFL¿FDOO\RQWKHLVVXHRIWKHproduction of digital narrative forms, WKHUHVHDUFKVSUHVHQWHGWRRNLQWRDFFRXQWKRZWKHPHGLDKDVLQÀXHQFHG
the construction of cultural identity and expression, especially for the generation of digital natives. Their formation by immersion in the age of media culture, led to a transformation of cultural habits and a change of relationships and social structures, and has changed their communication and the human mind in terms of cognitive (Buckingham 2006), even beyond the traditional gender differences. On these issues, the researchs presented show, distancing from deterministic approaches, such as the convergence of experience on-off line is important for building self-con-
scious and for managing new media in a functional way. In this sense, WKHFUHDWLRQRIYLUWXDOFRPPXQLWLHVGH¿QHGE\0DULD%DNDUGMLHYD
“Virtual togetherness”) shows the capacity, especially among the youn-
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of these environments, young people develop and enhance the skills of creativity in the use of their multimedia skills in order to constantly re-
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GD\VRIRUDOLW\WKH\RXQJWRGD\GH¿QHFHUHPRQLDODQGULWXDOVSUDFWLFHV
that are modeled on the horizons of expectation and knowledge typical of their time and of their being. What is perpetuated is not the medium, but the value of the relationship and what manifests is the human potential to adapt to the environment and to take action to strengthen states and modes of interaction. And so, relations, such as individual experiences, intertwine and are reworked in narrative modes oriented to community and socialization. For this reason they are produced and made reprodu-
cible up to generate IRUPV RI UHÀH[LYLW\ FRQQHFWHG and communicative inclusiveness (Boccia Artieri, 2012).
In these communication practices interconnected, the other kind of study that was a priority in the research interests of the young Italian resear-
chers concerns the analysis of the forms of social activism and partici-
patory democracy, so that about two out of three works have focused on Introduction
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this object of study. The topics covered ranged from the dynamics of mo-
bilization in favor of social causes are particularly felt to the practices of responsible consumption, form the formation of groups in the network of political support until the examination of satire as a form of intersection between instances of politics and anti-politics. The axes of intersection between the different approaches, even in this case, have abandoned the tones of apology of the network in favor of a more detailed and analyti-
cal complexity of the variables which are subject to the development of these phenomena.
If we now take for granted the need for participation in the res publica favored by technological and especially by distrust towards political sy-
stems both in Italy and in the rest of the world, the crucial aspects of the phenomenon regarding the ways in which develops the social commit-
ment of individuals and digital communities. At the basis of the studies presented, there is the deepening of some conceptual issues: the horizon-
tal subsidiarity (Crozier, Huntington, 1977;; Arena 2006;; Moro 2009), analysis of the culture of connection as interpretive model for analyzing the role of the network as an incubator for new collective movements (Melucci 1994), and especially the study of the role of public opinion LQWKHGH¿QLWLRQRIQHZG\QDPLFVRIFRQVHQVXV:HPXVWQRWIRUJHWWKDW
the “episodes” of participation in democracy are, until now, at a stage entirely experimental and cannot be read and interpreted exclusively in tecnopolitical way. Perhaps it would be more correct, even in this case, rethink in a societal perspective, in which the digital constitutes only one step of a process of collective involvement. For example, the experien-
ces of digital populism repeat those of traditional populism (Formenti, 2008), as well as tones and modes of the debate in the network are mostly pieces of a communicative circuit that originates in the mass media. At a more general level, these narratives are an expression of profound chan-
ges taking place, especially today, when - perhaps due to the crisis - are DPSOL¿HGPHFKDQLVPVWKDWEHFRPHOHVVHSLVRGLFDQGPRUHPDQLIHVWDWLRQ
of the needs of a society.
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social balance, review the narrative practices and the encoding of mea-
nings that emerge from the construction of social reality of tomorrow is QRWMXVWDQDO\]HWKHIRUPVRIFRQQHFWLRQEXWEHLQWKH¿UVWSODFHSDUWRI
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together to compare approaches and the results. 1HWZRUNLQJ¿UVWWRRE-
serve and study the network: this is the message we want to leave this Symposium for young researchers who participated.
As a coordinator of the workshop, according with Fausto Colombo, co-
Introduction
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ordinator of the AIS-PIC, I want to thank Nico Carpentier, Sonia Li-
vingstone, Peter Lund and Kim Schroeder, the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano, that hosted the meeting, and all the participants, looking forward to meet them again in the next years.
References
Arena G., 2006, Cittadini attivi: un altro modo di pensare l’Italia, Later-
za, Roma. Bakardjieva M., 2003, 9LUWXDOWRJHWKHUQHVVDQHYHU\GD\OLIHSHUVSHFWL-
ve. Media, Culture and Society 25 (3): 291–313. Barnett, Clive. Boccia Artieri G., 2012, Stati di connessione: pubblici, cittadini e consu-
PDWRULQHOODVRFLDOQHWZRUNVRFLHW\, FrancoAngeli, Milano.
Bruns A., 2008, %ORJV:LNLSHGLD6HFRQG/LIHDQG%H\RQG)URP3UR-
duction to Produsage, Peter Lang publishing Inc., New York.
Bruns A., Jacobs Joanne, 2006, Uses of Blogs, Peter Lang publishing Inc., New York.
Buckingham D., Willet R., 2006, Digital Generations. Children, Young People and New Media, Lawrence Erlbaum Associiates Inc., Mahwah, New Jersey. Crozier M., Watanuki J., Huntington S.P., 1977, La crisi della demo-
crazia: rapporto sulla governabilità delle democrazie alla Commissione trilaterale, FrancoAngeli, Milano.
Formenti C., 2008, &\EHUVRYLHWXWRSLHSRVWGHPRFUDWLFKHHQXRYLPHGLD, Cortina, Milano.
Jenkins H., 2006, Convergence culture: Where old and new media colli-
de, New York University Press, New York.
Melucci A., 1994, Passaggio d’epoca: il futuro è adesso, Feltrinelli, Mi-
lano. Moro G., 2009, Cittadini in Europa: l’attivismo civico e l’esperimento democratico comunitario, Carocci, Roma. Shirky C., 2009 (ed. orig.2008), Uno per uno, tutti per tutti, Codice Edi-
zioni, Torino.
Introduction
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THE PRODUCTION OF DIGITAL NARRATIVE FORMS
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di Alessandra Micalizzi, PhD at IULM University
alessandra.micalizzi@iulm.it
Abstract
The paper aims at presenting the results of an empirical research about the analysis of a new trend based on the practice of publishing amateur videos in memory of beloved persons that disappeared. The goal is to explore the characteristics of this practices: motivations, languages and dynamics between authors and viewers. The main results highlight socio-anthropological changes that deal with the meaning of being a part of these new rituals and the shift of some commemorative practices from traditional con-
texts to the digital ones.
Il paper si propone di presentare i risultati di uno studio sull’analisi dei nuovi trend re-
lative alle pratiche di pubblicazione di video amatoriali in memoria di una persona cara scomparsa. L’obiettivo principale era quello di esplorare le caratteristiche emergenti rispetto a motivazioni, a linguaggi e dinamiche tra autori e spettatori digitali. I risultati mostrano una cambiamento socio-antropologico rispetto alle modalità di partecipazione a queste forme proto-rituali che mette al centro l’affermarsi di nuove pratiche digitali.
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Keywords
Video-memorials, digital anthropology, digital narratives, youtube, mourning
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The expression “grassroots culture” is used to refer to a family of practi-
ces, basically spread during last decade, based on the mashing up, pro-
ducing and sharing of cultural products by net-users. It is characterized by new relations between the mechanism of the Industry of Culture and the dynamics of creation, diffusions and consumption of media-mix and authorial contents (Gemini 2009). The Convergence Culture (Jenkins 2006) and its logics intervene on so-
cial aspects of Everyday Life. We assist to a contamination of languages and codes between the world of cultural products and the world of social practices (Boccia Artieri 2009). One example is the way by which net-u-
sers express and share emotions in digital contexts. This paper aims at presenting the results of an empirical research about the analysis of a new trends based on the practice of publishing amateur videos in memory of beloved persons that disappeared. The general goal was to explore the characteristics of this practices: motivations, langua-
ges and dynamics between authors and viewers. The main results highli-
ght socio-anthropological changes that deal with the meaning of being a part of these new rituals and the shift of some commemorative practices from traditional contexts to the digital ones.
The Internet and the Culture of Fandom-izing Real-life
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cio-cultural change in those that can be considered the actors involved in the cultural productions.
The world of the mainstream media, based on the concentration of the SRZHULQWKHKDQGVRIVSHFL¿FVXEMHFWVZDVGH¿QLWHO\GLVUXSWHGE\WKH
introduction of tools and social environments that with simple acts, ac-
cessible also for the less experts, allow to create original products. The existence of social digital platforms that give space of visibility to com-
mon people and to their common world (Couldry 2003) give a chance of success to everyone and create new forms of involvement and engage-
ments of the publics in the Cultural Industry mechanisms.
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non as a form of democratization of the cultural process (De Kerckho-
ve 2003). On the other side, the pessimistic voices start to arise, seeing behind the contamination of the social roles (media vs publics and vice versa) a new expression of the dominant economic power, controlled by the few (Lovink 2011). There are also moderate positions that prefer to use the expression of “popularization” of the media culture, rather than recognizing a real process of democratization (Burgess & Green 2009).
Jenkins (2006:2010) argued that this way of using and enjoy media con-
tents, appropriating and mashing up the materials to create new sharable products, represents the expression of the participatory culture. With the-
se words he refers to a culture that reduces the obstacles to the access as Video-memorials: a case of emotional Grassroots Culture
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ZHOODVWKDWFUHDWHVVRFLDOEHQH¿WVLQSURGXFLQJDQGVKDULQJZKDWLVUHDOL-
zed in a collaborative way (Burgess&Green 2009). For some authors this SKHQRPHQRQLVWKHDI¿UPDWLRQRIWKHJLIWHFRQRP\ based on the commu-
nitarian participation of the net-users: the so called commons-based peer production (Benkler 2006). In fact, “the exchange of free digital goods or free work create mutual ties and reinforce trust, creating obligation and expectation” (Vellar 2010, p. 3).
One of the most interesting virtual environments, protagonists of the SUDFWLFHVGHVFULEHGDERYHDUHWKHVRFLDOQHWZRUNVLWHV61VGH¿QHGE\
boyd and Ellison (2007) as web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public RUVHPLSXEOLFSUR¿OHZLWKLQDERXQGHGV\VWHPDUWLFXODWHDOLVW
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The logic of the social network sites affects not only the interpersonal interactions among users but also personal aspects such as the expression of the Self. Helmond (2008) argued that we are in the Era of the identity 2.0: “the main characteristics of Identity 2.0 can be summed up as fol-
lows: it is in a perpetual beta, networked, part of a participatory culture with user-generated content, distributed, indexed by search engines and persistent”. (ivi, p. 15)
The architecture of the social network sites leads the self exposition to the glance of the other surfers, more or less known, enhancing the poten-
tial visibility of the personal life(story) and establishing new social rules of interaction and participation to the other every-day lives. For example, the practice to express “I-like” for the contents published by others can be considered as a mediated sign of presence (Rivav2009). Moreover, WKHSRVVLELOLW\WRVKDUHVRPHFRQWHQWVSXEOLVKHGRQDVSHFL¿FSODWIRUP
to another social network sites underlines the distributed and networked nature of the Self and of the social relations.
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the individual or the content produced and published. Youtube, one of the most popular network sites in the world, is based on the practice of sharing videos (Burger, Green, 2009). Each user can open a personal channel on which posting – and in this way publishing – video contents. The revolutionary power of this platform is well expressed by the claim: “broadcast yourself”.
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continuum that has as opposite extremities the videos produced by the mash up of mainstream contents and the personal videos about the self (v-blogging). The centrality of the authoriality and the explicit aim of the publishing – broadcasting the self – push some authors to consider Video-memorials: a case of emotional Grassroots Culture
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YouTube the social network site where SRWHQWLDWHGH[KLELWLRQLVP takes place (Koskela 2004).
Andrew Keen (2007), that has a pessimistic vision of the participative culture, argued that the Web 2.0 environments create the condition to WKHDI¿UPDWLRQRIWKHcult of the amateur, with all the implications and consequences that this involves.
There isn’t the space to go in dept on this issue. I gave just an overview on the main positions about the debate, not concluded yet.
In order to introduce the main topic of my paper I want to stress two PDLQSRLQWV,DJUHHZLWK-HQNLQVZKHQKHDI¿UPVWKDWVWXG\LQJ
the Grassroots Cultures can represent a good “window for understanding how globalization is reshaping our everyday lives”. I want to dwell on WZRZRUGVRIWKLVDI¿UPDWLRQ)LUVWRIDOODFFRUGLQJWRPHWDONLQJDERXW
globalization, in this context, means to recognize the role of the old and new media in the process of global participation and collection of a com-
mon cultural patrimony.
Secondly, the Grassroots Culture affects and deals with everyday life, in all of its aspects, including the most unexpected. We assist on a process of fandom-zing the Real Life, that is based on the implicit – and may be induced – need of:
- sharing all aspects of ordinary and extraordinary events that involve us;;
- translating them in the multimedia languages;;
- creating the expectation of participation of others by the expression of their (virtual) presence.
These elements represent the premises of what I try to discuss in the next pages.
The mourning and the socio-anthropological practices in the Late Modernity
The process of IDQGRPL]DWLRQ RI WKH (YHU\GD\ lives includes also di-
sruptive moments of the routine, such us the mourning and the loss of beloved persons. I will describe the main aspects of this phenomenon, introducing the re-
sults of an empirical research carried out on YouTube. However, in order to contextualize the topic, it is important to underline the social and an-
thropological changes that have been involving the Western Culture from last decades.
The experience of loss someone beloved is a disruptive moment, that involves many aspects of the life of the survivors (Viorst 2000). In the WUDGLWLRQDOVRFLHWLHVWKHUHZHUHVRPHVSHFL¿FVWHSVDIWHUWKHGHDWKRID
member of the community, to go through the grief and to consider the painful person out of the “bereavement”. In all of these steps, the social context played a central role in supporting and sustain the relatives of the deceased (Di Nola 2005).
The work of the community didn’t end up after the funeral rite but con-
tinued also in the months after the death until the recognition that the Video-memorials: a case of emotional Grassroots Culture
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survivors came over the grief.
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the members of the communities that sanctioned important events of the individual’s life such as the birthing, the access to the adult group, the becoming a warrior, the marriage, etc. Among these phases of life there is also the death.
The anthropologist suggested that it was possible to distinguish three IDPLOLHVRIULWHVWKHULWXDORIVHSDUDWLRQRIWUDQVLWLRQDQG¿QDOO\RIUHX-
QL¿FDWLRQn.1. If we think about Italian Culture of the Past, we can recognize these three steps in the case of mourning. Funerals represented the moment of separation between the beloved and the relatives;; the practice of dressing black wears by the bereaved could be considered a way to separate them-
selves from the rest of the communityn.2;; the moment of starting to use other colors (a part of the black) in dressing is the sign of concluding the phase of mourning (Di Nola 2005).
However, starting from the Modernity, besides the industrialization, the triumph of technologies and techniques, the migration from the rural are-
as toward the cities, the changes of the social role in the traditional fami-
lies, we assist at a progressive process of expropriation of the experience of death from the Everyday life (Vovelle 2000;; Morin 2002;; Giddens ,WZDVHGHIHQVHPHFKDQLVPDJDLQVWWKHIDLURIWKH¿QLWXGHQDWXUH
of human kind. And this mechanism causes also the refusing and the re-
moving of the idea of death.
The Cultural Industry is directly involved in this process. The media pro-
GXFWLRQSURSRVHWKHWKHPHRIGHDWKDQGRIWKHPRXUQLQJE\¿FWLRQ¿OPV
news and other contents;; however, the protection of the screen (Gamba 2004) creates a sense of distance between the theme and the audiences. There are two consequences. The death becomes obscene that has the double meaning of being over-exposed at the glance of the publics and, at the same time, of being without a scene, that means discussed and pro-
posed as unreal (Mantegazza 2004)
Castells (2004) argued that the ambition of our society is to delete the death from the life, by proposing the death of the Other by media con-
tents. But, in this way, ours arrive as an unexpected fact. Moreover, he pointed out that separating Death from Life we construct the Eternity in the course of our lives.
Media play another important role too. They are also artifacts, technolo-
gies and techniques, of the memory. They constitutes extraordinary re-
pertoire of contents about our Past. Giaccardi (1999) said that media tell DERXWZKDWRXUKLVWRU\VHOHFWLQJUHOHYDQWFRQWHQWV¿[LQJWKHPRGDOLWLHV
More about this aspect can be found on Van Gennep (1909), Les rites de pas-
sages, engl. Trad. (2004), The rites of passages, Routledge, London.
2
Dressing a black wear – usually three years – was a social sign of the personal condition that inform all the community about what a bereaved could do and couldn’t and about how other people could behave with him/her.
1
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of the practice of remembering, and becoming archives of the memory.
Media are VSDFHRIPHPRU\. However, they are also SODFHRIPHPRU\ and commemoration. And it is clear if we consider the so called media event (Bolter & Grusin 2004).
We can extend this consideration also to the Internet: it is a device of memory, thanks to its capacity of archive, collect, reach and search con-
tents (boyd 2007);; as well as a social context where it is possible to share feelings, memories and thoughts, included those are about these extreme experiences.
What is the result of the media shaping of the social practice of com-
memoration? And what are the consequences of the social shaping of techno-spaces such as social network sites?
7KHFULVLVRIWKHUHOLJLRXVULWHVRIVHSDUDWLRQFUHDWHWKHQHHGWR¿QGQHZ
ways to express and share pains and suffer after the loss of a beloved SHUVRQ7KLVOHDGVWRWKHDI¿UPDWLRQRIODLFIDUHZHOOULWXDOVDQGWKH\FDQ
take place also on-line.
Virtual cemeteries, personal pages of commemoration, digital monumen-
ts and so on represent the socio-anthropological answer to this changes. They are not so diffused in the Italian Culture and tradition but they are a reality. They are really heterogeneous in languages, timing, forms, and spaces. First of all, it was a spontaneous way of commemorating the be-
loved. It is not based on a previous appointment or a rationally planned decision. It happens: someone leaves a message on the deceased’s blog, and in few times other people have the same ideas creating the space of memory, an opportunity to remember the beloved. There is not a formal ODQJXDJHD¿[HGGDWHRUDSUHFRGHGHWLTXHWWH0LFDOL]]L
In order to describe the social practice by key words, we can say that it is personalized, spontaneous, hyper textual and multimedia. It is clear that it assumes different characteristics according to the virtual space we consider. So it is relevant go in depth and focus the attention on some VSHFL¿FFDVHVRIVWXG\
YouTube and the Video-memorials: an empirical research
In the next page, I will focus my attention on the results of an empirical research that is about a recent phenomenon spread on YouTube. More VSHFL¿FDOO\,ZLOOVKRZWKHPDLQSRLQWVRIWKHTXDOLWDWLYHDQDO\VLVRIWHQ
amateur videos published in the memory of disappeared persons.
The general goal of my study was to explore the characteristics of this practice with a special attention toward the motivations, the characteristi-
FVRIWKHODQJXDJHERWKRIWKHDXWKRUVDQGRIWKHXVHUVDQG¿QDOO\WRZDUG
the conversational dynamics of the comments. In order to answer to these points, I divided the research in two moments. 7KH¿UVWRQHGHDOWZLWKWKHYLVXDODQDO\VLVRIYLGHRVVHOHFWHGDPRQJ
WKHUHVXOWRIWKHVHDUFKE\VSHFL¿FNH\ZRUGVVXFKDV³JRRGE\H´³OLWWOH
ALESSANDRA
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angel”, “in the memory of”.n.3 This step aimed at identifying the syntactic characteristics of the videos, considering them from a narrative point of view (Burke 1969). In this way, I focused my attention on:
- What kind of images are chosen (symbolic vs personal);;
- What kind of music are chosen (again symbolic vs personal);;
- What is the sense (or the aim) of the plot (to prevent;; to remember, to show, to sue);;
- What is the main focus of the texts added to the images (the event vs the beloved);;
- What is the implicit or explicit referent of the message (the networ-
ked publics, the beloved, both of them).
The second phase was focused on a sub-sample made up of ten more re-
presentative videos, for which I carried out the qualitative content analy-
sis of the comments. Using always a narrative perspective, I considered the main theme of the posts, distinguishing four typologies. Comments can be referred to: support;; personal feelings, anecdote, judge.n.4
I’ll describe in details the characteristics of each type presenting the main points of the analysis.
The research, started in may 2012, is not concluded yet, since I would like to complete the interpretative model integrating also the social network analysis of selected parts of the conversations. And, for this reason, in the next pages I will present an overview of the main results.
,QWKH¿UVWSODFHLWLVLQWHUHVWLQJWRXQGHUOLQHWKDWLQDORWRIFDVHVWKH
author is a friend or a far relative of the deceased. It is not possible to have information about the age, but it supposes they belong to the digital natives or at list at the younger groups of digital immigrants (Ferri 2011). The choice of using a digital channel to commemorate the beloved seems to belong only to relatively young people.
In the second place, the publication of the video is generally close to the date of the grief. This aspect should justify the trend to use emotive ODQJXDJHVDQGLPDJHVWKDWSUREDEO\UHÀHFWWKHPRRGRIWKH¿UVWSHULRG
of the mourning. In the third place, the video are about premature or drastic death, caused by serious diseases or accidents. Rimè (2008) and Pennebacker (2003) argued that traumatic experience cause a cognitive rumination that can be solved by the practice of narrating about the event. I propose that the practice of translating personal feelings in a video, made up of a lot of images and few fragmented words, is a way to processing the trauma: WKDWLVWKHZD\WKDWGLJLWDOJHQHUDWLRQ¿QGVFORVHUWRH[SUHVVWKHSHUVRQDO
The selection of the video was based on three criteria: the number of viewers, the number of comments and the congruency with the object of study. I chose the NH\ZRUGVVSHFL¿HGRQWKHWH[WEHFDXVHDIWHUWKH¿UVWH[SORUDWLYHVHDUFKVHHPHGWREH
the more linked and relied with the theme of my research. Beside the criteria cited, I continued the selection of the videos by the snowballing method, selecting some videos among that presented on the right column of the screen.
4
The labeling of the different categories comes out the content analysis. I used the grounded theory approach, introducing new categories until the saturation of the typologies according to the narrative fragments analysed.
ALESSANDRA
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3
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way of being and of communicating too.
Considering the visual characteristics of the v-memorials, it emerges a general trend in mixing images about the beloved with evocative images that are symbolically linked with feelings of sadness, suffer and pain. ,W LV MXVWL¿DEOH WR WKLQN WKDW WKH SHUVRQDO SKRWRV ZKHUH WKH EHORYHG LV
with other people, include the image of the video’s author. This could be another way to mark the DXWKRULDOLW\ of the amateur product.
The symbolic images can be also referred to the cause of death, espe-
cially when it was dramatic. In both of these cases (evocative images of feeling and shocking images about the death) it seems to exist a digital repertoire from which all the authors draw. This creates the conditions WRWKHDI¿UPDWLRQRIDrhetoric of digital commemoration by YouTube memorial, as stated by previous researches in other interactive spaces of the Net (Micalizzi 2009:2011).
About the music, there are cases in which the music is addressed at evo-
cating feelings and cases in where the music is coherent with the tastes RIWKHEHORYHG7KHGLIIHUHQFHRIFKRLFHVHHPVWREHMXVWL¿HGE\WKHUROH
of the music in the life of the protagonist. If his/her work or passions are linked with the music world, it is probable that the author uses a music that helps to underline this aspect of his/her life. For example, in the case of the video titled *RRGE\H0LFN\n.5WKHSHUVRQDOSKRWRVÀRZDFFRPSD-
nied by underground music: very unusual for a video memorial but really coherent with the memory of Micky that was a DJ.
The plot of the video is not as personalized as we would expect. It tends to have two possible evolutions. It can be focused on the personal life of the victims, stressing above all their positive aspects and describing some personal anecdotes that involves the authors and the beloved.n.6 Or, in other cases, it can describe in details the moments before the death until the tragic ending.n.7
7KLV FKRLFH LQÀXHQFHV WKH JHQHUDO VWUXFWXUH RI WKH YLGHR WKH WRQH DQG
also the aim of the publication. As said above, the general meaning of the plot tends to one of the following aims: - to remember the beloved and sharing with known and unknown people the feeling of love toward the deceased. In this case, we face with a video-tribute (VT) in a strict sense, amied at celebrating the beloved’s life and story. They can be compared with the funeral orations of the Ro-
man Past;;n.8
- to prevent some dramatic consequences of our choices. The video seems to be amateur social advertising (ASA), above all against driving XQGHUWKHLQÀXHQFHRIDKFRKROn.9
- to show some pieces of everyday lives, especially when the de-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZyIOM-CFJk
One example is offered by the following video http://www.youtube.com/wa-
tch?v=wi4cr3LThLs
7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzlHqY4q1-s
8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOH9xWyQ0BU&feature=related
9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfgtUSjrRs0&feature=related. The texts of this video is proposed in others, personalized by the use of different images.
ALESSANDRA
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5
6
pag. 18
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ceased is particular youngn.10 and sharing feelings, emotions, especially ORYHPRUHWKDQWKHSDLQ,GH¿QHGWKHVHYLGHROLNHdigital-tracks (DT) because, more than in other cases, it is important the witness of presences by the networked publics;; - to sue some events, to express anger and pain for the tragic epilo-
gue caused by others’ behaviors.n.11 I called the videos that can be inclu-
ded in this forth type as emotive-report (ER), because even if the author tends to be only descriptive, in proposing the facts, the spectator can feel his real sentiments.
The referent of the video changes according with the aim of the amateur montage. For this reason we can imagine a general joint between aims and referents as described in the table n. 1.
Table N.1. Typologies of aims and referents
Typology of video
Video-tribute
Amateur social advertising
Digital-tracks
Emotive-report
Aim
To remember
To prevent
To show
To sue
Referent
Beloved Networked publics
Beloved
Networked publics
The video-memorials and digital tracks have generally the beloved as explicit referent, that is the main character of the visual and of the textual narration. In social advertising and emotive report, the referentn.12 is the networked public.
More complex was the qualitative content analysis of the posts. The comments are mainly published by users that haven’t any kind of relation with the author or with the deceased. I think it is the sign of a new social practices that have interesting psycho-social implications. There isn’t the space to go in depth on this topic;; however I would like to give just some food for thoughts. Rimè (2007) pointed out that in front of some trauma-
tic events, such as a car accident, people not involved but present to the episode, have the empathetic reaction to speak about what have seen and, above all, to know more about what happened. Visiting these kind of videos and leaving a message seems to have the same origin. On one hand, it is a form of empathetic participation to something that is humanly recognized as dramatic, drastic, unfair. On the other hand, it is a form of modern voyeurism that create a context of commemoration, surely more participated but at the same time colder.
This leads to the second point I would like to underline. Since there is a low sentiment implication with the fact, the space for comments beco-
mes, in a lot of case, a public place where users debate on political or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v7DC1V-uJE;; http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=je_IL_YjOK4&feature=fvsr
11
Like is showed in the video proposed in note number 4.
12
In those cases, the referent is generally implicit in the sense that it is not neces-
sary direct cited in the text or by the visual content, but it is evident, by the aim of the YLGHRLQGHHGZKRLVWKH¿QDODGGUHVVHH
ALESSANDRA
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10
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HWKLFDODUJXPHQWVRUZRUVHZKHUHWKH\FUHDWHVLWXDWLRQRIÀDPLQJ
For this reason it has been necessary to clean up the dataset by selecting the posts coherent with the topic of the research.n.13 I individuated 4 typologies of content that can be described as follow:
- the messages of support: it is the case of comments in which the user underlines his affective proximity to the family of the victim. This kind of comments seem to be close to the traditional condolences that are addressed to the relatives of the deceased and expressed in the classical funeral language, that is present in each culture. Also people that didn’t know very well the dead can express the condolences. In the case of Net-messages, the difference is not in the social etiquette but in the lan-
guage that is less formal and more personal:
“I don’t know her but she seems to be really cute. She disappeared too soon. It’s unfair…I’m sorry”
- the personal feelings: this is the case of posts where the user fo-
cuses the attention on the emotions stimulated by the video. Comparing these contents with the situations in traditional contexts, I think they can be assimilated to the rumors, or at least the beginning of them. After a tragic accident it is common for the people in the crowd to start to talk each other;; usually the beginning is the expression of personal feelings that is the outing of the cognitive rumination cited before (Rimè, 2008);;
“I’m shocked but this story. I have two daughters and I can’t believe that this can happen to them too…I can’t stop crying”
- the posts focused on judges: generally, these posts are the starting SRLQWIRURQOLQHÀDPLQJ7KH\DUHDGGUHVVHGWRWKHDXWKRURIWKHYLGHR
the users express their personal opinion on the motivations that lead the author to publish the video. We can consider them as the second step of rumors: in this case is not the result of the exploitation of cognitive rumi-
nation, rather the beginning of a weird form of gossip:
“I know why you have published this video. And you were right to do that. You feel guilty because you drove the car that night and you want to know to us that it wasn’t your fault. I think it’s not your fault. The fault is on the crazy driver of the car. He had to die..not her nor you…he is a criminal, junkie (…)”
- the posts about personal anecdotes: they are the less represen-
tative posts, but sometimes people use this space to tell personal epi-
sodes, close to the event described in the video. I consider this way of participation as a form of self-disclosure (Pennebacker, 2003), a way to ¿QGWKHVSDFHDQGWKHRSSRUWXQLW\WRWDONDERXWXQH[SUHVVHGIHHOLQJVDQG
memories sometimes hard to share with known people, with people that are part of the real social context (family relatives, friends, schoolmates etc):
ALESSANDRA
MICALIZZI
“I can understand how you feel now…because I’m a mother too…and I lost my baby at the 27th week of pregnancy (…)”.
Considering that the videos obtained by all the keywords search are 66800n.14, it is clear that video-memorials are not simply a new sporadic I collected a dataset made up of 4500 posts and I had to delete over 1200 be-
cause of their little relevance with the topic.
14
The number is referred to the total number of video obtained by using all the 13
pag. 20
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way to use the social network, but a real social practice that needs to be explored better in order to understand the socio-anthropological implica-
tions of the spreading of this phenomenon. In the next paragraph I’ll try to retrace the main points, emerging from the results, and to introduce some peculiar cases that deserve a separate work of analysis.
General trends and peculiar cases
The explorative research presented in this paper, even if partial and not concluded, leads to introduce some peculiar aspects of the practice of YLGHRPHPRULDOV)LUVWRIDOOLWFRQ¿UPVWKHPDLQFKDUDFWHULVWLFVRIWKH
commemorative actions on-line emerged by other empirical studies. In fact, we assists on a personalized way of celebrate the memory of the beloved for two reasons: the video is generally focused on the deceased (using for example his/her images or choosing music that she/he liked);; the author uses an unconventional language for the commemoration of the common people. At the same time, the commemorative process is distributed (respect the time and the space) and not anymore linked to a peculiar date. As said above, the videos are published some weeks or months after the death of the beloved, but not necessary for a symbolic moment commonly re-
cognized as a date of commemoration. In other words, the publication respects the time of the author, coinciding with a moment meaningful for him, probably in relation to the deceased, but not for the rest of the world. Very few videos are published to remember anniversary or birthday. The participation of the publics is distributed too. And this is possible only in on-line contexts.
Even if there isn’t a collectively accepted Netiquette yet, that establishes the modality of construction of a video memorial, the analysis shows a trend to uniform the choice of the images, the languages, the phase of WKHSORWDVLILWLVJRLQJWREHGH¿QLQJDUKHWRULFRIWKHFROOHFWLYHRQOLQH
commemorations.
)LQDOO\WKHSHFXOLDUFKDUDFWHULVWLFVRI<RXWXEHLQÀXHQFHVDOVRWKHSUDFWL-
ce of the on-line memorials, respect other virtual interactive spaces (such as Facebook, blogs, personal pages etc).
The logic of this social network site is to give importance to the user-ge-
nerated content. In this way, if the author doesn’t impose any limitation, the video is visible to everyone and not only to the list of friends. And this is also marked by the idea that each Youtube subscriber has a perso-
nal channel, a word coming from the broadcasting media.
Referring to the video-memorials, I think it is more evident, than in other kind of on-line spaces, that there is the involvement of the networked pu-
blics, in the role of audience. I suppose that, underneath the act of choo-
NH\ZRUGVVSHFL¿HGLQWKHIRRWQRWHQ,WLQFOXGHVDOVRYLGHRQRWFRQJUXHQWZLWKP\
object of study. In any case, it gives roughly an idea of the dimension of this phenome-
non.
ALESSANDRA
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sing You-tube as a space of publication, there is the implicit intent to pro-
duce a video for the public: the author wants to communicate something not only to his friends – but to everyone. For this reason, I compare this practice to the media event described by Bolter and Grusin (2003). The contents, the languages, the subjects are totally different, but in both of these cases, according to me, there is the aim to involve the audience in participating to a deep feeling of suffer. The video and the comments left E\RWKHUXVHUVOLNHWKHÀRZHUVKDQJXSWRWKHJDWHRIWKHTXHHQSDODFH
create the assumptions for a commemorative pod-cast events.
Using a socio-anthropological perspective, we can consider this form of socialization of feeling and memories an ephemeral conquest of the eternity (De Martino 1975), a way to leave a track of the personal life, digitalizing the process of objectivation of the memory.
Beside these aspects, the research let me to notice some peculiar situa-
tions that I would like to cite even if there isn’t the space to explore in depth.
First of all, the practice of amateur video memorials regards also the world of the stars. Some fan decides to commemorate celebrities after their disappearance. In that case, I think it is interesting the use of media contents. In fact, if for videos addressed to common people, media pro-
duction is a source of symbolic value – e.g. the use of a song to express some feelings – in the case of stars, media contents have almost always a biographical meaning. Secondly, exploring the contents of the videos in depth, I individuate some case of fake. There are some videos that use the same language, contents, tones of the video-memorials but they are not realized to com-
memorate a real person. Sometimes the aim is declared at the end of the video or in a comment.n.15 Sometimes, some users had the ability to un-
mask the not appreciated joke.n.16
It could be interesting go in depth with the reason why people do fake commemorative videos. The third aspect concern the case of the RQOLQH SUH¿FV. De Martino (1967), in one of his best work, described the funeral rites in the South of Italy in the ’50. His ethnologic research, that is rich of tick descriptions, IRFXVHGWKHDWWHQWLRQRQWKH¿JXUHRIWKHVRFDOOHG³SUH¿FKH´ROGEODFN
dressed women that participated to the rites and spent their time singing repetitive songs in which the content is in rhyme and personalized for the deceased. They hadn’t any family relation with the dead;; it was like a real job.
Something similar happens on-line. Analyzing the conversations, it was possible to individuate some recurring nicknames. These users left a post http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5qUY83Xq_g&feature=related. An other interesting example is offered by the case of re-publication of videos produced by others: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rIKl2sj9Gs. I considered that case an involuntary fake.
16
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nLcJpH0woM in that case some users hi-
ghlight the fact that the date of the death is the 2nd of June, but the video was posted on 29th of may.
ALESSANDRA
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15
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in several video-memorials, even if they are not direct involved with the victims. The content of the messages is really similar: they generally express messages of support for the relatives of the deceased or personal empathetic feelings. Even if the message is not about the protagonist of the video, that they eventually describe only in hypothetic way – e.g. VKHVHHPVWREHSUHWW\«WKHDLPRIWKHSRVWLVWKHVDPHRIWKH3UH¿FD¶V
litany: it is aimed at interpreting the suffer of the relatives and giving a sign of presence, a witness, of the commemorative moment. In my opi-
QLRQLWLVHYLGHQWWKHSUR[LPLW\ZLWKWKH¿JXUHRISUH¿FDGHVFULEHGE\
De Martino, as if this modality of participation to the pain of others could have a digital evolution.
What is the reason that push this people to leave a messages could be a good point to start a new empirical research.
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covering from a trauma and emotional upheal, New Harbinger Press, Oakland, CA.
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WKHUDSHXWLFSURFHVV3V\FKRORJLFDOVFLHQFH, n.8, p. 162-166.
Pessach Guy, 2008, 1HWZRUNHG 0HPRU\ ,QVWLWXWLRQV VRFLDO UHPHPEH-
ring, privatization and its discontents, available at http://ssrn.com/ab-
stract =1085267
Rimé Bernard, 2008, La partage des emotions, Press Universitaires de France, Paris.
Rimé Bernard, 1995, The social sharing of emotional experience as a source for the social knowledge of emotion. In J.A. Russell, J.M. Fernan-
dez-Dols , A.S.R. Manstead, & J.C. Wellenkamp (Eds.), (YHU\GD\FRQ-
FHSWLRQVRIHPRWLRQV$QLQWURGXFWLRQWRWKHSV\FKRORJ\DQWKURSRORJ\
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and linguistics of emotion (pp. 475–489). Doordrecht: Kluwer.
Riva Giuseppe, 2009, I social Network, Il Mulino, Bologna.
Vellar Agnese, 'DQFLQJLQWKH6WDUGRP5HFRUGLQJ,QGXVWU\DQG*UDV-
sroots Marketing (October 16, 2010). ESA Research Network Sociology of Culture Midterm Conference: Culture and the Making of Worlds, Oc-
tober 2010. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1693102
Viorst Judith, Distacchi. Gli affetti, le illusioni, i legami e i sogni impos-
sibili a cui tutti noi dobbiamo rinunciare per crescere, Sperling, Milano, 2004.
Vovelle Maurice, 2000, /DPRUWHHO¶2FFLGHQWHGDODLJLRUQLQR-
stri, GLF Editori Laterza, Bari.
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“I wanna be like Sailor Moon”. Media and gender socialization process
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di Alessandro Porrovecchio, Assistant lecturer at University of the Littoral Opal Coast, France
alessandro.porrovecchio@gmail.com
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to propose a model that illustrates the adolescents’ gender so-
cialization process. The model shows the rising of multiple channels of socialization, based on four pillars: family, peer groups, old and new media. I focus mainly on the WKLUGDQGWKHIRXUWKSLOODUQDPHO\WKHUROHRIPHGLDDV¿HOGVZKHUHIHUWLOHLPDJLQDULHV
grow, as a starting point from which individuals build their gender identity.
L’obiettivo di questo lavoro è quello di proporre un modello che illustri il processo di socializzazione di genere degli adolescenti. Il modello proposto mostra come la socia-
lizzazione si fondi su quattro canali: la famiglia, il gruppo dei pari, i vecchi e nuovi media. L’attenzione è posta principalmente sul terzo e quarto pilastro, ossia sul ruolo dei media come ambienti in cui si costruiscono degli immaginari, partendo dai quali l’individuo costruisce la sua identità di genere.
N°3 – 2013
ISSN 2036-9700
Keywords
Gender;; Media;; Youth;; Socialization;; Cultivation theory.
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The purpose of this paper is to propose a model illustrating the adolescents’ gender socialization process. This contribution should be framed within a research I’m conducing since 2008. Its goal is to describe and analyze the process of gender/sexual bodily-Self construction among adolescents. Some results have already been published in Italian (Porrovecchio 2012a) and French (Porrovecchio 2012b).
The research path is based on a PL[HG PHWKRG VWUDWHJ\ (Bergman 2008), namely on the triple convergence of: quantitative and qualitative DSSURDFKRQOLQHDQGRIÀLQHUHVHDUFK¿HOGV\QWDJPDWLFDQGSDUDGLJPDWLF
axis model. In particular, I gathered 20 in-depth interviews, I conducted some focus groups and built a web ethnography (Hine 2000, 2005;; Porrovecchio 2012c). Furthermore, as Marshall McLuhan suggested (1951), I tried to “surf” through the adolescents’ imaginary, analyzing different kinds of pop culture’s documents (magazines, movies, novels, tv shows, etc.) that enabled me to breathe the spirit of the time, typical of WKHDGROHVFHQWVWKDW,PHWRQWKH¿HOG
Through this approach I gave some teenagers the opportunity to capture their speech (De Certeau 1994), trying to bypass the adults’ point of view, DQGWRGH¿QHWKHWHHQDJHUV¶JHQGHUVH[XDOLGHQWLW\FRQVWUXFWLRQSURFHVV
For an overview of the methodology and its application to the topic of transactional sexualities, see Porrovecchio (2011, 2012d).
Contemporary society and construction of gender identity The social and cultural changes happened in Western societies in the last decades, caused a sort of crisis of most traditional values . In particular, discussing sexuality we must take into account the fact that the changes KDYHEHHQVLJQL¿FDQWDQGOHGWRDVRUWRIGHUHJXODWLRQ7KHHYROXWLRQRI
this feature of morality is directly related to the transformations involving the family and the other socialization agencies, which led to a gradual convergence between genders (Porrovecchio 2012b) and has rapidly DIIHFWHG\RXWKVXEFXOWXUHVDQGWKHLUVRFLRFXOWXUDOIRUPV.
In this context, the gender socialization takes on new shapes, and leaves ample room to individuals’ initiative (Morcellini 1997). The information UHVHDUFK DERXW VH[XDOLW\, for example, is becoming more and more important: individuals feel the need to be informed in order to evaluate the possibilities and take a conscious decision. When info tools aren’t provided by traditional socialization agencies, people use alternative strategies to gather information. Beyond the need of information, there’s a set of rituals which have a special and decisive role in the path for adulthood (Van Gennep 1909). However, these rituals, like other social forms, have undergone some FKDQJHVWKDWWUDQVIRUPHGWKHPVLJQL¿FDQWO\:HVWHUQVRFLHWLHVQRORQJHU
recognize collectively established rites of passage (Goguel of Allondans 2005) as necessary steps for adulthood. Contemporary societies, in fact, leave to the individual the honour and responsibility to build and shape the path of their existence through the creation of intimate rites of passage “I wanna be like Sailor Moon”. Media and gender socialization process
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(Le Breton 2007). Those are relatively new kinds of rituals performed in a relatively solitary way, WHQGLQJWRFRQÀLFWZLWKWKHHVWDEOLVKHGVRFLDO
ethics (“risky” behaviours).
Therefore, we can say that the construction process of sexual and gender identity goes through WZR VXEVWDQWLDOO\ VLPXOWDQHRXV DQG SDUDOOHO
processes of transformation: socialization and rites of passages. In this SDSHU,ZLOOLQWURGXFHWKH¿UVWSURFHVVIRFXVLQJRQKRZSHRSOHVHDUFKIRU
VLJQL¿FDQWLQIRUPDWLRQRQVH[XDOJHQGHUEHKDYLRXU
“Boys were tryin’ to lift up our skirts!”: discovering gender and sexuality
The discovery of sexuality usually occurs, almost casually, within a familiar context or at the kindergarten, from early childhood to puberty. My interviewees answered to some generic questions related to this topic with no hesitation;; they began to describe a circumscribed and somewhat accidental episode in which the interaction with the Other opened a new world. The discovery is usually preceded by a phase in which VH[XDOLW\LV
H[SHULHQFHGDVVRPHWKLQJP\VWHULRXV, underground, hidden between the lines of everyday life and connected to a set of bodily, social and cultural factors that differentiate boys and girls (Lipperini 2007). The child is so curious and driven to understand the mysterious forces and differences characterizingDZRUOGDSSDUHQWO\GLYLGHGLQWRWZRFDWHJRULHV: boys and girls.
The discovery of gender and sexuality mainly occurs while playing and interacting within the peer group. Giulia (24, Ardea [RM]), for example, H[SODLQVWKDWWKH¿UVWFXULRVLWLHVDERXWPDOHIHPDOHGLIIHUHQFHVHPHUJHG
³ZKHQ\RX¿UVWJRWRWKHNLQGHUJDUWHQDQG\RXVHHDOOWKHER\VRQRQH
side and all the girls on the other...”. And then the jokes come;; jokes are WKH¿UVWIRUPRIVRFLDOL]DWLRQWRJHQGHUDQGVH[XDOUROHV³,UHPHPEHUZH
were playin’ in the garden! Boys were tryin’ to lift up our skirts! And we used to run [laughs] we had to crouch in order to avoid showing... our panties!”. She describes DFRQ¿JXUDWLRQRIEHKDYLRXUV that will assume DPRUHVSHFL¿FIRUPLQWKHLQWHUSUHWDWLRQVRIWKHUROHVLQHYHU\GD\OLIH
This way children “have already internalized […] their role of males and females and the precepts that govern them” (Lipperini 2007, p. 12).
In this phase children begin to be aware of their gender and sexuality and the main socialization agencies come into play. If we study this topic we should be aware that we are dealing with a condition of social change, in which emerges the demand for an “Other socialization” (Morcellini 1997, p. 17), levering with projects that are “more private, problematic, experimental, based on procedures and rituals rather than on goals and principles, uncertain and precarious, anyway” (p. 22). 7KH WUDGLWLRQDO
top-down socialization agencies are declining in favour of a socialization based on “sharing”. 0RUFHOOLQL LGHQWL¿HV WZR FHQWUDO DQG QRW H[KDXVWLYH D[HV RI WKH QHZ
generations’ social formation. On one hand, there are some – partially weakened – forms of mediated socialization, in which the subjects invest “I wanna be like Sailor Moon”. Media and gender socialization process
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on the socialisers, sharing values, languages and transmission rituals. On the other hand, “non-mediated” forms of socialization are emerging. In WKHVHIRUPVWKHLQÀXHQFHVRIWKHNQRZOHGJHWUDQVPLWWHGE\WKHPHGLDWHG
forms interacts with some more informal and interactive agencies. This SUDFWLFHLVGH¿QHGE\0RUFHOOLQLDVDIRUPRIself-socialization in which the authority of the transmission fails. The non-mediated socialization, WKHUHIRUHKDVQ¶WJRWDQ\GH¿QHGPRGHOVEXWFRPELQHVHOHPHQWVGUDZQ
from different agents (especially the media) and is based on the horizontal interaction within the peer group.
7KH VSHFL¿F FDVH RI JHQGHUVH[XDOLW\ VRFLDOL]DWLRQ FOHDUO\ IROORZV
Morcellini’s model. 7KHUH¶V D GXDO FKDQQHO RI VRFLDOL]DWLRQ, based on four pillars: family (mediated socialization), tribe and “old” and “new” media (non-mediated socialization). In this paper I will not focus on two of the most important traditional agencies of socialization: the school and WKHFKXUFKEHFDXVHP\LQWHUYLHZHHVGLGQRWPHQWLRQVSHFL¿FDOO\VFKRROV
and churches as institutions. They talked about their schools only as spaces in which their interactions could take place. ,ZLOOLQWURGXFHWKH¿UVWWZRSLOODUVIDPLO\DQGWULEH±VHH3RUURYHFFKLR
2012a to learn more – and then focus my attention on the last two.
From family to tribes
7KH ¿UVW H[SHULHQFHV UHODWHG WR WKH GLVFRYHU\ RI JHQGHU DQG VH[XDOLW\
as we have seen, tend to occur by chance within a familiar context. If they happen differently, they tend to be re-contextualized through a V\PEROL]DWLRQ DQG SUREOHPDWL]DWLRQ SURFHVV the aim of which is to understand and include the experience in a familiar symbolic universe. :KHQDFKLOGIDFHVDVLJQL¿FDQWH[SHULHQFHKHXVXDOO\UHIHUVWRWKHSULPDU\
group (family) to understand it. The interactions with the primary group, in this context, can have a different outcome, leaving VLJQL¿FDQWWUDFHV
LQWKHSV\FKHRIWKHDGROHVFHQWV, LQÀXHQFLQJWKHLUIXWXUHEHKDYLRXUVDQG
attitudes, and consequently the formation of WKHLUJHQGHUVH[XDOLGHQWLW\. The family is substantially FORVHGWRVH[XDOLW\ (Barbagli et al. 2010, from p.33): it has some important limits as an agency of sexual socialization. For this reason it is soon joined by other experiences of socialization: the tribe (peer group) (Maffesoli 1996) and the mass media. Again, the H[DPSOHRI*LXOLDLVSDUWLFXODUO\VLJQL¿FDQW:KHQ,DVNHGKHUWRH[SODLQ
what points guided her path to become a woman and she said: Um... My mother... I’m sorry to say that [laughs], but it’s mom ... I mean, uh, thinking about my life, how I’ve changed, what I am, my ambitions ... (D: Has she been an example also in your relationships with boys too?) I don’t know ... ':KDWDERXWWKHPHGLD"PRYLHVWYVKRZV6XUHWKH\LQÀXHQFHGPHDORW
[...] what characters do, I saw how... how they kissed... how they fell in love... if you don’t talk about these things at home, of course you take tv as a reference... however… my family couldn’t be a model... they didn’t even kiss in front of me, mom and dad... (Giulia, 24, Ardea [RM]). “I wanna be like Sailor Moon”. Media and gender socialization process
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,I DW ¿UVW *LXOLD¶V PRWKHU VHHPHG WR EH KHU RQO\ JXLGDQFH HVSHFLDOO\
as far as values and ambitions that drove her adolescent life, then her attitude revealed how uncomfortable she feels when the topic is sexuality and affectivity: it is was clear that other references had to surface, such DV WHOHYLVLRQ WKH ¿UVW VKH PHQWLRQHG ,Q WKLV FDVH WKH VRFLRORJLFDOO\
VLJQL¿FDQWHOHPHQWLVQRWKHUUHVHDUFKIRULQIRUPDWLRQWKURXJKWKHPHGLD
but her XQHDVHWRDGPLWVKHGLGQ¶WWDNHLQWRDFFRXQWWKHIDPLO\VSHFL¿FDOO\
KHUPRWKHUDV¿JXUHZKRVRFLDOL]HVWRVH[XDOLW\DQGJHQGHUEHKDYLRXU
Of course, Giulia’s case doesn’t represent the whole population, but it shows some of the most common dynamics: the crucial connection to the SDUHQWDO¿JXUHDQGWRWKHIDPLO\JURXSDVDUHIHUHQFHLQWKHsocialization of norms and values’ SURFHVV WKH VHSDUDWLRQ IURP WKH SDUHQWDO ¿JXUHV
in the quest for information on inner and personal cultural forms, such as sexuality, taste, fashion, tribal imagery and so on. The reference to V\PEROLFDOO\LPSRUWDQW¿JXUHVDVSDUHQWVRUDWHDFKHULVVWURQJDVIDU
as the fundamental pillars of our life (values and education). The other elements of gender/sexual identity come from a mixed research strategy (bricolage). This emerges from the words of Arjan (19), an Albanian student of Luserna San Giovanni (TO): My reference points were my parents… as far as … the most important pillars.. that for me are is family, honesty, respect… the main aspects of a personality… then, it depends on the period, maybe sports, the charisma of a coach… and maybe music too…”. “Family, honesty, respect”, “politeness”, “good principles” and “ambitions” are just some of the values (“the most important factors of a personality”, according to Arjan) that our interviewees used while talking DERXWWKHLUSDUHQWV¶LQÀXHQFHLQWKH6HOIFRQVWUXFWLRQ7KHQDGROHVFHQWV
seem to use a set of strategies to research and organize information.
7ULEHVQDPHO\SHHUJURXSVRUFODVVPDWHVDUHWKH¿UVWDQGPDLQVRXUFHs RILQIRUPDWLRQRQVH[XDOLW\, that rapidly joins – or replaces – the family as a space for gender/sexual socialization;; this is true especially regarding those issues that can’t be addressed to the family, (for example, questions about dynamics of desire and sexual techniques). Family remains a strong, constant and decisive reference, throughout adolescence, in the construction of people’s identity. The tribe, in fact – as an experiential space of socialization – also encourages the bodily-Self gender construction because it is both DV\PEROLFSODFHIRUVKDULQJLQIRUPDWLRQ
and build relationships: adolescents interiorize male and female roles, imaginaries, practices, seduction techniques and strategies. However, if we deal with sexuality, we notice a situation of disclosure within the peer group too (Barbagli et al. 2010, from p. 40). The following discussion, held in the www.giovani.it forum between two girls and a boy (Paulista), VWDUWHGRQ0D\ZLWKDVXUYH\VSHFL¿FDOO\DGGUHVVHGWR\RXQJ
girls: “Do you masturbate?”. The same day, after 16 interactions, they wrote:
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Occhio6: I masturbate too... it’s something I like, and it helps me to know my body better... if I don’t have a boyfriend I do it almost every night before I fall asleep... if I have a guy, less... Vibrators ... I’ve never tried... how is it?
Paulista: and apart from here on the forum, do you talk with your friends, or are you ashaaaamed??? […] I mean, here in this forum I can write things that I don’t tell to my friends, so if you say that you masturbate only here on the forum, you don’t tell it to everybody... do you understand?
Occhio6: Ok ... Here on the forum I write things that I can’t tell to my friends... also because they are very “chaste”, they don’t talk about these things. Maybe I need to confront myself with some boys and girls on topics related to sex etc.
Dolcezza989: With my friends we often talk about sex.......... but maybe I’m the only girl who lives her sexuality with serenity?
Paulista: not the only one, but one of the few who admits it... as far as I know, you’re to value for your sincerity...
The interaction between the two girls and the boy is quite interesting: it‘s easy to gossip, while the most intimate and personal topics are taboo, especially for girls. She seems to say: we can talk about masturbation, sex etc. in everyday life, but only as long as we remain in the dimension of gossip;; we don’t talk about other sensitive and personal topics. Namely, we don’t talk about all the arguments that are addressed on the web, or through the media.
Media
When we study the synergy between adolescents’ ways of using media’s content and gender/sexuality socialization (Brown et al. 1993), we must WDNHDORRNDWWKHPHGLDODQGVFDSH,LGHQWL¿HGDQLPSRUWDQWGLVWLQFWLRQDV
starting point for my analysis, the one between “old” and “new” media:
- the old ones are traditional broadcast media: radio, television, newspapers, books and comics, so all the media that “push” contents to the users and - in our case - images, situations, symbols, body patterns, behavioural norms and imaginaries (Gerbner et al. 1973;; Kim et al. 2007);;
- the new media refer to online communication, and personal digital media (Paccagnella 2010). According to this communication model, a user has the ability to search, select and pull out actively any kind of information, interacting and sharing experiences and imaginaries, expressing themselves.
We must consider the fact that the dialectic between these two communication models is not so clear: the observed phenomena are FRPSOH[WKHUHIRUHPRGHOVVXIIHURIRYHUVLPSOL¿FDWLRQ
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Tv, movies, music and magazines
$ ¿UVW HYLGHQFH FRQFHUQLQJ ROG PHGLD LV WKH DELOLW\ WR VWLPXODWH
DGROHVFHQWV¶FXULRVLW\7KHPRVWLQÀXHQWLDOPHGLDLQRXUFRQWH[WDUHWKH
audiovisual ones (Gerbner et al. 1994). They convey images, situations, pag. 31
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symbols, body cartographies, scripts, imaginaries, behavioural patterns WKDWDUHPRUHRUOHVVDFWLYHO\¿OWHUHGGHFRQVWUXFWHGDQGUHFRQVWUXFWHG
E\WKHDXGLHQFHVDQG¿QDOO\OLYHGLQHYHU\GD\OLIH$UQHWW
When gender/sexual socialization is still in an embryonic phase, the main effect of traditional audiovisual media is to VWLPXODWHFXULRVLW\: “[I discovered sexuality] in primary school, when you discover new things, maybe even through tv. Namely, even the movies that you happen to watch because they let you stay awake an hour longer, you see that there is something...” (Elena, 22, Pomezia [RM]). Discoveries usually occur when children are hardly ever left alone in front of the television. So, when the content stimulates the curiosity of the child or the embarrassment of the parents, it can lead to a debate or to ambiguous reactions. Many adolescents told me that the discovery of sexuality passed through awkward moments within the family: I was maybe six... seven years old... I was watching a movie on tv... I mean, it was half past nine... and they were going to have sex [on tv] […] I saw that my father was... [laughs] embarrassed! And I didn’t really... ask him anything, but... maybe he felt the need to explain […] not in such detail that he... uh ... that people must love each other... feel something particular... (Arianna, 19, Turin).
Another decisive factor is Gerbner’s “cultivation” (Gerbner et al. 1973), namely PHGLD¶V DELOLW\ WR FUHDWH D SHUYDVLYH V\PEROLF HQYLURQPHQW, that could lead the imaginary replace the personal experience of reality. So, audiovisual media can result in some relatively active forms of LGHQWL¿FDWLRQZLWKPHGLDFKDUDFWHUV³:KHQ,ZDVDFKLOG,ZDQWHGWREH
like Sailor Moon!” (Francesco, homosexual, 23, Rome).
Afterwards, when the notions about sexuality are more accurate, audiovisual media can contribute to the development of a personal LPDJLQDU\ related to sexuality, relations and affectivity, providing scripts, behaviour patterns, or simply a rich symbolic universe. It can create a SHUVRQDOVW\OHLWFDQHYHQLQÀXHQFHLQGLYLGXDOV¶YDOXHVDQGLGHDOVLQVRPH
cases. Mirko, for example, said: “Rocky... I liked it... I like the meaning... never surrender…the winner isn’t the one who wins, but the one who still stands up and goes on... I like it…” (Mirko, 19, Rome). Mirko grew XSLQDYHU\GLVDGYDQWDJHGDQGYLROHQWGLVWULFWDQGWKH¿JXUHRI5RFN\
became an LFRQRORJ\ (Maffesoli 2009), a source for behavioural norms, values and ethics. Beyond Mirko’s particular case, the story of Diana is really interesting. She is an homosexual adolescent reporting how she selected some tools ZLWKLQWKHDXGLRYLVXDOÀX[RIV\PEROV
I… since I was a child my father made me watch all Humphrey Bogart’s movies… well... so I’ve got that kind of image of masculinity... that is, a man should be pragmatic, without fear, serious... a bit poet and a bit Richard Gere... but as pragmatic as Russell Crowe [...] and I still like this look a bit radical-chic, and... I took some ideas [from “the L World”] (Diana, 19, Fabriano [AN]). 'LDQDLVVWURQJO\VHOIUHÀH[LYHPD\EHEHFDXVHRIKHUSUHYLRXVFRQGLWLRQ
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of social distress. This condition led her to an important work of identity bricolage: her biography talks explicitly about DV\PEROLFVHOHFWLRQWKDW
LQPDQ\SHRSOHUHPDLQDWDQXQFRQVFLRXVOHYHO*DU¿QNHO6LQFH
her puberty, she felt the male gender as her own. Later, when her sexual, affective and gendered capital has grown richer and became fertile, Diana implemented a research strategy starting from the embodied “bogartian” noir-man model, whose aim is to select and customize her bodily-Self starting from some tv-series models (“The L world”).
There is a common thread that connects many of our interviewees: when I DVNHGDERXWWKHLQÀXHQFHRIWHOHYLVLRQRQWKHLUEHKDYLRXUWKH\XQGHUOLQHG
their distance from the audiovisual mainstream. It is remarkable that while, according to the collective imagination, many people are strongly LQÀXHQFHGE\WKHPDVVPHGLDP\LQWHUYLHZHHVDVVRRQDVWKH\SHUFHLYHG
WKHULVNWREHFODVVL¿HGDVVWURQJO\LQÀXHQFHGSHRSOHHPSKDVL]HGWKHLU
independence from the dominant medium. Arianna, for example, said: ³7HOHYLVLRQQHYHULQÀXHQFHGPHPXFK%HFDXVHP\SDUHQWVDOZD\VVDLG
that I had to think independently... with my own head” (Arianna, 19, Turin). Arjan lucidly explained: “My parents didn’t want me to stay all GD\LQIURQWRIWKHWYVFUHHQ>@,WKLQNVRFLHW\LQÀXHQFHGPHDQGLWZDV
LWVHOILQÀXHQFHGE\WY´$UMDQ/XVHUQD6DQ*LRYDQQL>72@7KH
words of the Albanian boy are comparable to Gerbner’s theory (1973): he’s conscious that communication is his habitus (Bourdieu 1979;; Ciofalo 2007), that he lives in a symbolic universe whose main source is television. His bodily-Self, however, is also built on music imaginary: ³PD\EHIRUWKHFORWKLQJ,WKLQNWKDWPXVLFLQÀXHQFHGPH´
Music seems to be another potentially strong element in the construction of bodily-Self: it is an important factory of iconologies (Maffesoli 2009), a vehicle for behaviour models, fashion, lifestyles and clothing. Many of my interviewees dressed according to their favourite music’s style and frequently referred to its symbolic universe, even in relational, emotional or sexual terms.
In “La sessualità degli italiani” (Barbagli et al., 2010, p 42), digressing EULHÀ\ LQWR QHZVSDSHUV PDJD]LQHV FRPLFV DQG ERRNV¶ LVVXH SRUQ
magazines are conceptually connected to pornographic websites. Assuming that the use of pornographic websites is supplanting the use of magazines, their role tend to be different if we refer to the socialization of males or the one of females.
:KHQLQGLYLGXDOVDUHSDUWLFXODUO\\RXQJWKH¿UVWHIIHFWRISRUQRJUDSKLF
magazines seems to be the VWLPXODWLRQ RI FXULRVLW\ and, therefore, the implementation of VWUDWHJLHVWRH[SORUHWKHWRSLFRIVH[XDOLW\ (Brown et al. 2005;; Štulhofer et al. 2011). As for the socialization of adolescents, WKH ¿UVW IXQFWLRQ RI SRUQRJUDSKLF PDJD]LQHV FRPPRQ WR ERWK PDOHV
DQGIHPDOHVDOWKRXJKWKH\DUHVLJQL¿FDQWO\PRUHSRSXODUDPRQJER\V
77% vs. 26%;; Barbagli et al. 2010), seems to be recreational. They chat about magazines within the peer group, they discuss and they laugh. The second use is proper to boys, and is linked to the transgression of the adults’ rules: theoretically sexual contents are something proper to the adult world, which makes the one who manages to obtain them worthy “I wanna be like Sailor Moon”. Media and gender socialization process
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of admiration in the eyes of the tribe. Another socializing function of pornography, proper to males, is related to the LQWHUQDOL]DWLRQRIVH[XDO
techniques, especially when there aren’t any other available sources. When I asked “did porn teach you anything?”, Florin, a Romanian boy, said:
Yes... yes, of course... a lot... because if you know how to watch it, it teaches you many things: how to excite a woman, how to please her, how to be sure she liked it. However, we must know how to look at porn, and some videos are very vulgar and meaningless (Florin, 20, Rome). Finally, one last function of pornography is related to the direct stimulation RIVH[XDOLPDJLQDU\DQGWRPDVWXUEDWLRQ.
This digression on pornography allows us to build a bridge to the next section, focusing on “new” media.
New media
In this section I will focus mainly on the web. The attitude of many adolescents towards sexuality is changing, also because there’s a greater amount of information and interacting possibilities (Tirocchi et al. 2002;; Tirocchi 2007). We can systematize the socialization potentialities I LGHQWL¿HGREVHUYLQJWKHDGROHVFHQWV¶LQWHUDFWLRQVWKURXJK¿YHGLIIHUHQW
weltanschauung. The web can be considered a place for:
1. information seeking and use of multimedia content;;
2. Self-expression, Self-representation and Self-narration;;
3. alternative Selves testing;;
4. knowledge sharing;;
5. creation of a network of relationships (even labile or instantaneous).
$VDSODFHWR¿QGVRPHLQIRUPDWLRQDQGWRDFFHVVDQ\NLQGRIPXOWLPHGLD
texts, the web can be considered an enormous HQF\FORSDHGLD (Eco WKURXJK ZKLFK SHRSOH FDQ ¿QG DQ\ W\SH RI FRQWHQW related to sexuality, affectivity and relations: from pornography to websites where adolescents put at stake their fears, doubts and problems. An example of sensitive symbolic dynamics spaces are the virtual communities I used for the research, in which adolescents interact, or simply consult the material while looking for some useful information. Just look at the posts introducing some threads to get an idea of their informative value: “I propose a survey, how many of you make love with preservatives?? […] Have you ever had any problems.... I’m waiting for your answers” (http://forum.amando.it);; “Do your parents know that you are lezzies? Did they discover it by themselves or did you tell them? How was it? Hello to all” (http://community.girlpower.it).
As a place of Self-expression, Self-representation and Self-narration, the web – especially the virtual communities – is DZLGHODERUDWRU\ in which individuals SXWDWVWDNHWKHLULGHQWLWLHVE\FRQVWUXFWLQJDQDUUDWLYH and making it interact with other Selves (Drusian 2005). Teenagers test the “I wanna be like Sailor Moon”. Media and gender socialization process
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HI¿FLHQF\DQGHIIHFWLYHQHVVRIWKHLUVWUDWHJLHVRILQWHUDFWLRQUHODWLRQVKLS
management and attention drawing: WKH\ WU\ WKH YLUWXDO VLGH RI WKHLU
JHQGHUVH[XDO 6HOI (virtual, but real in his effects). The web, in this context, is like an arena in which occurs a relatively painlessV\PEROLF
guerrillaWKDWLVDVWDUWLQJSRLQWWRSXWWKH6HOIDWVWDNHLQWKHUHDO¿HOG
Besides, offering the chance to bring into play the Self, the web also allows to H[SHULHQFH VRPH WRWDOO\ DOWHUQDWLYH 6HOYHV. It offers some RSSRUWXQLWLHVWRFUHDWH¿FWLWLRXVLGHQWLWLHVIXQFWLRQDOLQWKLVFDVHWRWKH
construction of gender/sexual identity: it is not uncommon to meet people pretending to be what they aren’t, re-inventing their identity basing it on the different virtual contexts, through a simple process of gender, age or role swapping and so on.
:HFDQFRQVLGHUWKHIRXUWKDQG¿IWKHOHPHQWVRIVRFLDOL]DWLRQWRJHWKHU
knowledge sharing and relational (social) networks (Tirocchi 2012). Through virtual communities people share and have access to a broad social and cultural capital, to which they can contribute. This is the mission of many virtual communities, and it’s precisely the reason of the effervescence of many communities. The sharing of knowledge is SDOSDEOHLQDOPRVWDOOWKH¿UVWWKUHDGVRIRQOLQHGLVFXVVLRQV
Conclusions: values, bodies, imaginaries
The importance and the value of the various areas of socialization is LQWXLWLYH,IWKH¿UVWDSSURDFKWRWKHJHQGHUVH[XDOLGHQWLW\¶VFRQVWUXFWLRQ
(namely, the values) comes from the family, it is clear that WKH VH[XDO
VSKHUHDQGWKHLPDJLQDU\RIUHODWLRQV– HVSHFLDOO\WKRVHZKHUHWKHERG\
LVLQYROYHG±DUHFXOWLYDWHGE\WKHPHGLD (Leonzi 2010). Moreover, each pillar contributes to different aspects of sexual/gender socialization: the family, the tribe, the way old media portraits gender roles, establish a “normative system”. This system provides images of how a body should be, giving life to “idealistic body cartographies”. At the same time, tribes together with old and for the larger part new media, work as a “tool box”, a source for ideas and techniques on “how to have sex”.
A graphic metaphor, the Dance’s communication model (1967, img. 1), can help us visualize the gender/sexual construction process (socialization) keeping in mind that the model is idealistic and it has nothing to do with a math study of the curve. So, following the metaphor DQGJLYHQWKDWWKLVLVDQRYHUVLPSOL¿FDWLRQRIWKHREVHUYHGSKHQRPHQRQ
the spiral can represent the individual’s socialization path. The process starts from the bottom, and the vertical axis (the centre of the spiral) UHSUHVHQWVWKHWLPHYDULDEOHWKHVSLUDOWHQGVWRLQ¿QLW\ ), namely to the end of the individual’s life. Each point [ along the spiral, represents the asset of knowledge (and experience) of the individual at that time. Knowledge goes through a constant process of expansion thanks to the LQÀXHQFHRIWKHIRXUSLOODUVGHVFULEHGDERYH
The above described phenomenon, in which sexual/gender’s knowledge “I wanna be like Sailor Moon”. Media and gender socialization process
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is directly proportional to the media’s cultivation effect, has some consequences that can be easily H[HPSOL¿HG
I propose, as a conclusion, the case of the “ideal type”, just to contextualize the cultivation power owned by old and new media: when I generically asked my interviewees “how should your ideal partner be?”, the adolescents (both male DQGIHPDOHDW¿UVWWHQGHGWRHQJDJH
in a purely physical description. This phenomenon refers to the characteristics of a society – the Img. 1: Dance’s communication model. contemporary one – in which Source: Dance F. E. X. (1967), Human WKH ERG\ KDV EHFRPH WKH FRUH
Communication Theory: Original Essays, RI LQGLYLGXDO DQG VRFLDO LGHQWLW\ Holt, New York.
(Juvin 2006;; Milanaccio 2008;; )LRUDYDQWL HW DO 2QO\ ZKHQ , LQVLVWHG WKH LQWHUYLHZHHV ¿QDOO\
described the personal, psychological and relational characteristics of the ideal partners.
Furthermore, the ideal partner that surfaced from the interviews, is both physically and psychologically based on some standard models VXJJHVWHG E\ the mass media, with minor changes in accordance with individual taste, situation and context. An example of an LGHDO W\SH VWURQJO\ VWHUHRW\SHG, for example, is the one proposed by Arianna: “Johnny Depp! [laughs] the only problem is... Johnny Depp has the age of my father... so [...] Oh well ... that’s an utopia!” (Arianna, 19, Turin).
Arianna refers to a famous physical type, the one of an American movie star, and she explains that it’s an unrealistic model, based on the SURMHFWLRQ RI LGHDO H[SHFWDWLRQV LQWR D UHDO ¿JXUH$OO WKHVH UHIHUHQFHV
emphasize the fact that, apparently, on the scale of values related to the ideal partners, the physical aspect prevails. Afterwards, interviewees refer to other characteristics (psychological, behavioural, relational, etc.). This is a symptom of D UHODWLRQVKLSEXLOGLQJ VWUDWHJ\ KDYLQJ LWV
roots on ethics of aesthetics’ hedonistic model (Maffesoli 2000): many adolescents would like to live an ideal relationship with an interesting partner, in line with the DHVWKHWLFSULQFLSOHVHPERGLHGLQWKHLPDJLQDU\
SURSRVHGE\WKHPDVVPHGLD.
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References
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Gender differences in online consumption and content production among Italian undergraduate students
PIC-AIS
di Arianna Mainardi, PhD Student in Information Society at Department of Sociology and Social Research, Università Milano-Bicocca
a.mainardi1@campus.unimib.it
Andrea Mangiatordi, Research fellow at the Department of Human Sciences for Education, Università Milano-Bicocca
andrea.mangiatordi@unimib.it
Marina Micheli, PhD in Information Society at Department of Sociology and Social Research, Università Milano-Bicocca
m.micheli6@campus.unimib.it
Francesca Scenini, Lecturer at the Department of Languages and Applied Human Sciences, Milano Lingue-Université de Strasbourg
francesca.scenini@gmail.com
Abstract
*HQGHUKDVQRZFHDVHGWRLQÀXHQFH,QWHUQHWDFFHVVDQGIUHTXHQF\RIXVHHVSHFLDOO\
DPRQJ\RXWKV+RZHYHUVHOIHI¿FDF\LQGLJLWDOVNLOOVFRQWHQWSURGXFWLRQDQG,QWHUQHW
uses are still associated with gender. For that reason, this article uses data from a survey conducted in a university in Northern Italy to explore if male and female undergradua-
tes differ in their activities of online consumption and content production and whether VHOIHI¿FDF\FRXOGH[SODLQWKHGLIIHUHQFHV
/¶DSSDUWHQHQ]DGLJHQHUHQRQLQÀXHQ]DSLDFFHVVRHIUHTXHQ]DG¶XVRGLLQWHUQHWVR-
SUDWWXWWRWUDLJLRYDQL7XWWDYLDDOWULDVSHWWLFRPHOD¿GXFLDQHOOHSURSULHFRPSHWHQ]H
digitali, la produzione di contenuti e gli usi, sono ancora correlati al genere. Partendo da tale presupposto, l’articolo analizza un questionario effettuato in un’università del nord Italia ed esamina se gli studenti e le studentesse differiscono negli stili d’uso della rete, sia di consumo che di produzione di contenuti, e se la sicurezza nelle proprie com-
petenze può spiegare le differenze.
N°3 – 2013
ISSN 2036-9700
Keywords
*HQGHUGLJLWDOGLYLGHVRFLDOPHGLDXQGHUJUDGXDWHVWXGHQWVVHOIHI¿FDF\
RIVISTA
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Internet as a gendered technology
In studies on internet and inequalities, the concept of digital divide and the “haves” and “haves not” categorization, has been discarded in favor RIDEHWWHUDQGPRUHSRZHUIXOUHÀHFWLRQRQGLIIHUHQFHVLQXVDJHVNLOOV
and opportunities (Di Maggio, Hargittai 2004). The same tendency has EHHQFRQ¿UPHGE\VWXGLHVRQJHQGHUDQGWHFKQRORJ\(YHQLIJHQGHUZDV
traditionally considered to be implicated in various forms of inequality on matters of internet access and usage, a dichotomous approach based on “access” or “not access” to the internet was abandoned in favor of a wider and deeper discussion about women attitudes, uses or skills. While previous studies highlighted that women are less likely to use the internet than men are (Ono, Zavodny 2002), the literature is currently focusing on how gender is associated with different ways of using it (Harris 2008). Especially among youths, gender differences in internet access and fre-
TXHQF\RIXVHDUHDOPRVWLQVLJQL¿FDQWKRZHYHUGLIIHUHQWVW\OHVRIXVH
are reported (Van Dijk 2005;; Liff, Shepherd 2005;; Istat 2012).
Related literature shows that this diversity could be explained with gen-
der related factors such as stereotypes about the relationship between women and technology (Wajcman 2009). Stereotypes contribute to a dif-
ferent socialization to technologies according to gender, resulting in spe-
FL¿FFRQVXPSWLRQSDWWHUQV%LPEHUThere is a general stereotype that computers are “boys’ toys” which possibly has social implications: WKHGLVFRXUVHRQWHFKQRORJ\DVDPDOH¿HOGcompromises its role as an important resource in identity building (Seiter 2003). Stereotypes seem to produce real effects that materialize in education and career choices (Varma 2007).
6WHUHRW\SHVLQÀXHQFHGFRPSXWHUDGRSWLRQZLWKLQIDPLOLHVVLQFHWKHEH-
ginning, resulting in a “gendered use of computers” (Seiter 2003). Early studies on ICT use account that “the computer stereotype had a high gen-
der, class and intellectual standing” (ibid). Technology stereotypes are VLPLODUO\FRQ¿UPHGE\WKHFRQFHSWRIgeekFXOWXUHGH¿QHGDV³DQKLJK
tech sub-cultural milieu often associated with computing” (Varma 2007, p. 359). Terms like geek describe a set of idealized male norms such as falling in love with computers, being well-versed in the inner workings of computers, being focused on them to the point of obsession and be-
ing antisocial (Margolis, Fisher 2002). The analysis of geek culture was also considered as a key to understand the dearth of women in computer science and engineering: a study conducted in the U.S. discovered that women that choose to follow a career in computer science experience a SUHFLSLWRXVORVVRIFRQ¿GHQFHWKDWOHDGVWRDOLHQDWLRQDSHUYDVLYHVHQVH
of not belonging, and even depression (Varma 2007).
An interesting aspect of such a stereotype is that it is assumed as true by women themselves (Turkle 1988). Therefore, in order to better under-
stand online practices and gender differences, empirical investigations should take into account how prejudice shapes women discourses and RQOLQH SUDFWLFHV 0RQJLOL :RPHQ¶V ORZHU LQWHUQHW VHOIHI¿FDF\
perception could be interpreted as an example of how prejudices are ad-
Gender differences in online con-
sumption and content production among Italian undergraduate students
A. MAINARDI
A. MANGIATORDI M. MICHELI
F. SCENINI
pag. 40
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opted and reproduced by women themselves. The ways in which tech-
nological systems and gender are performed seem to have great con-
VHTXHQFHVLQJLUOVVHOIHI¿FDF\LQUHODWLRQZLWKLQWHUQHWDQGWHFKQRORJ\
(Mongili 2009).$FFRUGLQJWR6DUWRULZRPHQDUHOHVVFRQ¿GHQWZKHQLW
comes to managing technological resources and this is a possible cause of initial disadvantage (Sartori 2008). Hargittai and Shafer supposed that women’s lower self-assessment regarding their digital skills may DIIHFWVLJQL¿FDQWO\WKHH[WHQWRIWKHLURQOLQHEHKDYLRUDQGWKHW\SHVRI
uses (Hargittai, Shafer 2006). The authors conducted an empirical study to compare men and women ability in accomplishing web-based tasks with their skills self-evaluation. Their research points out a clear gen-
der-driven dissimilarity in skills self-perception, but not a corresponding GLYLGHLQDFWXDOVNLOOV7KHUHIRUHORZHUVHOIHI¿FDF\GRHVQRWQHFHVVDULO\
mean that girls’ skills are weaker than boys’ skills. Even though men and women do not differ greatly in their online abilities (Botturi, Bramani, 0F&XVNHUGLJLWDOVWXGLHV¿QGWKDWZRPHQ¶VVHOIDVVHVVHGVNLOOLV
VLJQL¿FDQWO\ORZHUWKDQWKDWRIPHQ+DUJLWWDL6KDIHU
In the last decade, with the rapid and widespread adoption of internet DQGGLJLWDOPHGLDWKHDFDGHPLFUHÀHFWLRQDERXWWKHZD\V\RXQJZRPHQ
XVHQHZWHFKQRORJLHVKDVFKDQJHG%XU\IRUH[DPSOHLGHQWL¿HVDQHZ
female geek, characterized by a complex negotiation of normative mas-
culine and feminine identities (Bury 2011). Overall, research shows that the women and girls tend to use new technologies more frequently for social purposes through email, chatting facilities and Instant Messaging, while men and boys tend towards an individualistic use, such as informa-
tion retrieval, or personal entertainment and games (Harris 2008). This difference was also interpreted as men tendency towards being “more technological” while women more “more functional” (Bracciale 2011).
Data and Methodology
Sample
The analyses presented here are based on data collected by the New Me-
dia Observatory (Numediabios) of the University Milano-Bicocca, in Northern Italy. The observatory’s general mission is to monitor universi-
ty students “new media habits” through longitudinal studies. The dataset used here is the result of a survey administered between March 2012 and June 2012. It includes detailed information about media consumption practices, internet uses and a closer focus on Web 2.0 services. The data was gathered through online questionnaires before an introductory test WKDWZDVPDQGDWRU\IRU¿UVW\HDUVWXGHQWV$GGLWLRQDOO\VWXGHQWVRIWZR
departments that did not use the introductory test were invited to the survey by email.
7KH ¿QDO VDPSOH LV FRPSRVHG E\ VWXGHQWV IURP VHYHQ GLIIHUHQW
departments. Approximately half of the sample is composed by students from social studies or humanistic disciplines, while students from scien-
A. MAINARDI
F. SCENINI
pag. 41
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WL¿FGLVFLSOLQHVDUHRQO\RQH¿IWK6WXGHQWVIURPRXUVDPSOHDUHGLVWULE-
uted as follow: Education (24,5%), Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences (21,9%), Economics (21,4%), Sociology (13,5%), Psychology (8,9%), Law (7,1%) and Medicine (2,7%). According to data published E\WKH8QLYHUVLW\VWDWLVWLFDOHYDOXDWLRQRI¿FHWKHRYHUDOOVWXGHQWVSRSX-
lation is biased towards male students: they are 37.8% of the total, while female are 62.2%. In our sample this proportion is similar to the overall gender distribution in the population (28.9% male students and 71.1% female). However, given the highly unbalanced distribution of male and female students, we always consider them as two distinct groups, and we only test hypotheses within such groups.
Techniques and variables
7KLVZRUNLVPDLQO\EDVHGRQFOXVWHUDQDO\VLVVSHFL¿FDOO\RQWKHk-means method. The technique was adopted in order to identify different styles of online consumption and production among students. Later, in the sec-
ond and third part of the analysis, the styles will be adopted to explore our research questions regarding gender differences in internet use.
:HSHUIRUPHGWZRGLIIHUHQWFOXVWHULQJV7KH¿UVWZDVEDVHGRQYDULDEOHV
referring to many different internet activities associated with browsing the web and communicating privately (IM). The second cluster included instead only variables referring to practices of online content production and sharing (UGC). A twofold analysis allowed us to classify the respon-
dents according to their consumption and production styles independent-
O\DQGWRFRPSDUHWKHSUR¿OHVGHYHORSHGWKURXJKHDFKFOXVWHUHYHQWXDOO\
identifying similar tendencies or correspondences. However, as previ-
ously stated, we are aware that the roles of producer and consumer are LQWHUPLQJOHGVXFKDSKHQRPHQRQLVFRPPRQO\H[SODLQHGLQWKH¿JXUH
of the prosumer.
)RUWKH¿UVWFOXVWHULQJZHFKRVHWKHYDULDEOHVIURPWKHIROORZLQJTXHV-
tions: x
How often (daily, weekly, rarely, almost never, never) do you use email;; read online newspapers;; use videochat systems (eg. Skype);; use text instant messengers;; use chatrooms;; use e-commerce platforms;; download contents;; read blogs;; watch video from streaming platforms?
x
Which of these web platforms do you know and how often (daily, weekly, rarely, almost never, never) do you use it? YouTube;; Wikipedia;; eBay;; Google Maps;; Facebook;; Twitter;; Apple store;; Google Apps;; Yahoo Answers;; Picasa.
The second clustering was conducted to identify different styles of online content production and sharing. It is generated from variables referred to LQWHUQHWDFWLYLWLHVWKDWVSHFL¿FDOO\LPSOLHGSURGXFLQJRUVKDULQJFRQWHQW
A. MAINARDI
F. SCENINI
pag. 42
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online:
x
How often (daily, weekly, rarely, almost never, never) do you participate in discussion forums;; blog or update a website);; publish content online (images, video or text);; comment blog posts;;
x
On which platform have you ever published content? YouTube;; Wikipedia;; Twitter;; Flickr.
x
How often (daily, weekly, rarely, never) do you publish on Facebook wall post;; Facebook pictures, link, video;; Facebook groups?
The analysis is based on a systematic comparison of students’ distribu-
WLRQ ZLWKLQ WKH FOXVWHUV DFFRUGLQJ WR WKHLU JHQGHU ,Q WKH ¿QDO VHFWLRQ
WKHDQDO\VLVH[SORUHGLQWHUQHWVHOIHI¿FDF\WKLVZDVREWDLQHGWKURXJKD
TXHVWLRQLQZKLFKVWXGHQWVKDGWRGH¿QHWKHLUDELOLW\WRXVHWKHLQWHUQHW
on a scale from 1 to 10. This variable was then recoded into four modal-
LWLHVDFFRUGLQJWRLWVTXDUWLOHV7KH¿QDOPRGDOLWLHVDUHQRWH[SHUW
VXI¿FLHQWO\H[SHUWH[SHUWYHU\H[SHUW
Findings
In this section we illustrate the outcomes of our analysis of internet con-
sumption (i.e. internet use) and online content production styles. Through FOXVWHUDQDO\VLVZHGLYLGHGWKHVDPSOHLQWRSUR¿OHVRILQWHUQHWXVHFRQ-
VXPSWLRQDQGLQWRSUR¿OHVRIFRQWHQWSURGXFWLRQ$IWHUKDYHRXWOLQHG
the features of each cluster, we are going to examine how gender and VHOISHUFHLYHGLQWHUQHWVNLOOVUHODWHZLWKWKHLGHQWL¿HGJURXSV
3UR¿OHVRILQWHUQHWXVHFRQVXPSWLRQ
First of all we can state that there is a positive correlation between the index of consumption (calculated as the mean value of the consumption YDULDEOHVXVHGIRUWKH¿UVWFOXVWHUDQDO\VLVDQGWKHLQGH[RISURGXFWLRQ
(the mean of the variables regarding practices on content production used for the second cluster analysis). Such correlation was tested using Spear-
PDQ¶VPHWKRGUKR SYDOXH:HGH¿QHZKDWFKDUDFWHU-
izes each cluster comparing the centroids in each cluster with the mean value of the same variable in the entire sample. 7KURXJKWKH¿UVWFOXVWHUEDVHGRQWKHYDULDEOHVRILQWHUQHWFRQVXPSWLRQ
SUDFWLFHVZHLGHQWL¿HGIRXUGLVWLQFWJURXSV³RPQLYRUHV´³SODLQXVHUV´
“sociables” and “web consumers”. “Omnivores” and “plain users” cor-
respond to the same percentage of students (27%) (n=650), while “web consumers” are 26% (n=623) and “sociables” 20% (n=483).
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Frequency
Valid percentage
20,1
27
27
25,9
Sociables
Omnivores
Plain users
Web consumers
483
649
650
623
Total
2405
Tab. 1. Internet consumption styles within the sample.
100
We start by describing the two groups that are at the opposite poles re-
garding intensity of internet use and variety of online activities conduct-
HG:HGH¿QHG³SODLQXVHUV´WKRVHVWXGHQWVZKRXVHWKHLQWHUQHWOHVVIUH-
quently than the others, engage in a small number of activities and visit IHZHU ZHEVLWHV 7KLV JURXS LV DFWXDOO\ LGHQWL¿HG ZLWK WKH ORZHU PHDQ
value in each online activity, which means that students in this group tend to be less active compared to the others - they use the internet less intensely than their peers. $WWKHH[WUHPHRSSRVLWHZH¿QGWKHJURXSGH¿QHGDVWKH³RPQLYRUHV´
They are students who carry out many different online activities with a high frequency. This cluster has values above mean for nearly all internet activities considered for the cluster analysis. It indicates that students in this group are inclined to use many different websites and services, and to do it quite frequently. The two other groups can be ideally located in a middle area, between “plain” and “omnivore” users: they are “sociables” and “web consum-
ers”. Interestingly, these two groups have opposite tendencies. “Sociables” are heavy users of the most well known social network sites (Facebook and YouTube in particular) and Web 2.0 services (such as Google Apps). The centroids for this group on variables related to social network sites have the highest values, also compared to “omni-
vores”. “Sociable” users seem not particularly interested in online ac-
tivities which are not related with maintaining social relationships (such as online news). The “web consumers”, at the contrary are less enthusi-
astic about social network sites (they have lower mean values on these variables), but they are frequent news readers, through online newspaper websites or web blogs, and they are more inclined to use e-mail or watch streaming video than “sociables”. Sociables Omnivores Plain users Web Consumers Variable Mean
YouTube
96,48
96,12
83,53
93,13
92,315
Wikipedia
92,42
93,89
79,58
92,46
89,5875
EBay
51,88
58,1
38,82
44,08
48,22
Google Maps
85,53
85,4
68,32
78,49
79,435
Yahoo Answers 64,2
63,39
43,6
51,67
55,715
Facebook
94,31
92,02
85,84
82,42
88,6475
Twitter
43,25
50,5
28,92
36,37
39,76
Apple Store
50,04
49,39
25,83
34,74
40
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N°3 – 2013
ISSN 2036-9700
RIVISTA
PIC-AIS
Google Apps
56,56
53,18
19,13
21,83
37,675
Picasa
51,18
39
17,36
17,37
31,2275
e-mail
76,77
89,44
66,27
80,45
78,2325
Online newspa- 37,05
per
Video call
21,63
66,57
22,65
61,92
47,0475
51,74
15,18
19,82
27,0925
IM
43,44
80,62
48,02
25,33
49,3525
Chatroom
9,66
20,25
9,95
4,17
11,0075
E- commerce
27,8
36,07
10,92
22,12
24,2275
Reading blogs
31,13
61,15
13,79
38,05
36,03
'RZQORDG¿OHV 65,52
77,59
46
61,04
62,5375
Streaming
72,06
32,67
58,58
54,21
53,53
7DE,QWHUQHWFRQVXPSWLRQSUR¿OHV
3UR¿OHVRILQWHUQHWXVHSURGXFWLRQ
7KHVHFRQGFOXVWHUDOORZHGXVWRGH¿QHGLIIHUHQWVW\OHVRIRQOLQHFRQ-
tent production. We compare variables mean values in each group with the mean value of the same variable in the entire sample. Starting from WKHWZRRSSRVLWHJURXSVZHLGHQWL¿HG³FDVXDOSURGXFHUV´DQG³H[WHQGHG
producers”: the formers are the less active in all web platforms or web services, while the latters are the most active in all of them. Then there are two intermediate groups: “facebookers” who are inclined to produce content mainly on Facebook and “variegated” who have a more diverse behavior and are particularly active on YouTube (all of them have pub-
lished a video at least once).
Frequency Valid percentage
Facebookers
487
24
Variegated 430
21,2
Extended producers
266
13,1
Casual producers
848
41,8
Total
2031
100
Missing
402
Total
2433
Tab 3: Online content production styles within the sample.
Facebookers
YouTube production
0
Wikipedia production
3,29
Facebook wall post
75,58
Facebook pictures, link, 64,29
video
Facebook groups
70,55
Twitter production
0
Blogging
17,47
DIY publishing
52,09
Forum participating
20,62
Flickr production
2,26
Blog commenting
43,77
Variegated producers
100
11,16
65,98
56,88
Extended
producers
59,4
19,92
65,05
58,5
Casual producers
0,24
2,36
44,59
34,69
Total
62,41
0
17,55
47,12
26,44
3,72
38,17
63,43
100
24,14
50,39
32,42
14,29
46,35
39,98
0,83
2,59
18,53
7,26
0,59
12,32
59,0925
25,2075
15,4375
42,0325
21,685
5,215
35,1525
7DE2QOLQHFRQWHQWSURGXFWLRQSUR¿OHV
39,91
9,1825
62,8
53,59
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Gender and online consumption and production practices
We believe that internet users in the group of the “omnivores” and, at the same time, in the group of the “extended producers” could be labeled as internet geeks. The intersection of these groups allow us to identify the most active users: 143 respondents, representing 5.9% of the overall sample. These users tend to consider themselves highly expert (60.8%) or expert (17.5%). Among them there are 67 female (that corresponds to 3.9% of the sample total of female students) and 76 male students (that corresponds to 10.8% of the total of male respondents). Male students seem to be characterized by an higher agency and more likely fall into the internet geek description.
To understand more deeply to what extent students online practices are LQÀXHQFHG E\ JHQGHU ZH FRPSDUH KRZ IHPDOH DQG PDOH VWXGHQWV DUH
arranged within each cluster. Given the unequal gender distribution, we split the sample in two sections according to students (self-declared) sex and confront their percentage values within online consumption or pro-
duction styles (Tab.5, Tab.6).
Results show that the likelihood to fall into a certain style is not the same for male and female students. Differences are especially meaningful for those styles that are set at the opposite poles in the two clusters. Male students are more prone to adopt the styles with the maximum level of engagement, both in consumption (“omnivores”) and production (“ex-
tended producers”). The gap between male and female in those groups is set to 13 and 12 percentage points. On the other side, female students tend to adopt styles with the lowest level of engagement: 31,5% women are “plain users”, while it is the same for only 16% of men. This is also true in terms of online production: women within the “casual producers” group are 11,6% more than men. “Casual producers” (the style with the lowest level of engagement in online content production and sharing) is the most populated group within both genders, but it is even more so among women (44,8%, vs. 34,2%).
7KHVH¿UVWUHVXOWVVHHPWRUHYHDOWKDWHYHQLIIHPDOHDQGPDOHVWXGHQWV
DUH ERWK SUHVHQW DQG DFWLYH RQOLQH JHQGHU VWLOO LQÀXHQFHV WKH ZD\ LQ
which the internet is appropriated, leading to different styles of internet use. More precisely, the most intense and variegated styles of internet consumption and content production (according to types and occurrence of online activities) tend to be more common among males, while within the female sample styles characterized by fewer and rarely conducted RQOLQH DFWLYHV DUH PRUH ZLGHVSUHDG 7KH RXWFRPH RI WKH ¿UVW DQDO\VLV
could recall the gender gap hypothesis. Nevertheless, we suggest that the relation between gender and styles of internet use is instead more com-
plicated if we look at the larger picture. The other styles of the clusters, the “intermediate” styles, contribute to a more detailed understanding of gender differences. Interestingly, we could identify a pattern in how female and male students are distributed in the remaining groups. Pri-
marily, the styles of internet consumption and online content production that are VRFLDOO\ RULHQWHG are favored by female students. Women are Gender differences in online con-
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more likely than men to be in the “sociable” group (+3%), as far as we are concerned with their internet consumption habits, or in the “face-
bookers” group (+10%), as far as we are considering their online content production practices. At the contrary, in the remaining groups, the “web consumers” and the “variegated”, males outweigh females (29,6% vs. 24,4%;; 27.6% vs. 18.6% female).
Sociables
Omnivores
Plain users
Web Consumers
Total
Gender Female % on gender 21,00%
23,10%
31,50%
24,40%
100%
Male
% on gender 17,90%
36,40%
16,00%
29,60%
100%
Total
% on gender 20,10%
27,00%
27,00%
25,90%
100%
Tab.5 : Gender distribution within internet consumption styles.
Facebookers Variegated Extended Casual producers
producers producers
Gender Female % on gender 26,80%
Total
18,60%
9,80%
44,80%
100%
Male
% on gender 16,70%
27,60%
21,50%
34,20%
100%
Total % on gender 24%
21,20%
13,10%
41,80%
100%
Tab. 6: Gender distribution within online content production styles.
*HQGHUDQGVHOIHI¿FDF\ We move now to the third research question regarding to what extent ZRPHQORZHUVHOIHI¿FDF\FDQH[SODLQGLIIHUHQFHVLQWKHLUVW\OHVRIXVLQJ
internet. )LUVW RI DOO VWXGHQWV LQWHUQHW VHOIHI¿FDF\ LV FRQIURQWHG ZLWK WKHLU VH[
5HVSRQGHQWVZHUHDVNHGWRGH¿QHRQDWRVFDOHKRZH[SHUWVWKH\
perceive themselves in internet related issues. The obtained variable was recoded according to its quartiles in the following manner: not expert (1-
VXI¿FLHQWO\H[SHUWH[SHUWYHU\H[SHUW5HVXOWVLQGLFDWH
that among our sample students internet skills self-evaluation is strongly UHODWHGZLWKJHQGHU¿J7KHVWDWXVRIYHU\H[SHUWDQGQRWH[SHUWLVDV-
sociated with substantial differences between male and female students. Women label themselves as not experts considerably more than men: 45% of female students thinks they are not expert at all, while only 22% of males thinks the same. Only 15% of female students thinks as them-
selves as very expert in using the internet, while 39% of male students believe to be so.
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Fig. 1: Self evaluation and gender
Since the sample includes students from different departments, we brief-
ly explore self-evaluation per department. Results show that students’ HGXFDWLRQVSHFLDOL]DWLRQLVUHODWHGZLWKWKHLULQWHUQHWVHOIHI¿FDF\*HQ-
erally, students from “Education” and “Sociology” value their internet skills much lower than their colleagues from “Economics” and “Mathe-
matical, Physical and Natural Sciences”. The educational paths mainly chosen by female students - such as Education - come with low levels of self-evaluated internet skills. Conversely, educational careers that are W\SLFDOO\VFLHQWL¿FDVVRFLDWHZLWKJUHDWHUOHYHOVRILQWHUQHWVHOIHI¿FDF\
However, in each department female students label themselves as not experts much more than males, and at the opposite, male students are more present in the “very expert” group. This is consistent with what we SUHYLRXVO\LGHQWL¿HGLQWKHZKROHVDPSOH
To conclude the analysis we explore how internet skills self-evaluation re-
lates with styles of internet use and content production. Overall, students LQWKH³RPQLYRUHV´JURXSSRVVHVVKLJKHUOHYHOVRIVHOIHI¿FDF\7DE
Being a “plain user” or a “web consumer”, conversely, is related with ORZHUVHOIHI¿FDF\7KHVHUHVXOWVDUHSUHGLFWDEOHDQGKROGIRUERWKJHQ-
ders. Nevertheless there are some differences. Male students who evalu-
ate themselves as very expert are more likely to be “omnivores” (55,6%) than female students (39,8%). On the other side, 28,1% of very experts women are “sociables”, much more than their male counterpart (20,4%). Male students are essentially more inclined to be “omnivores” than girls, DQG WKLV GLIIHUHQFH LV HYHQ PRUH UHPDUNDEOH DPRQJ KLJK VHOIHI¿FDF\
users: surprisingly, the gender gap reach its greater width precisely when students are very experts (in the “omnivore” group).
The second cluster, for online content production and sharing, shows a PRUHGLYHUVHJHQGHUHGDQGVHOIHI¿FDF\GLVWULEXWLRQDQGWKLVPDNHVJHQ-
GHUFRPSDULVRQGLI¿FXOW7DE+RZHYHULWLVSRVVLEOHWRLGHQWLI\VRPH
DQDORJRXVWHQGHQFLHVDVLQWKH¿UVWFOXVWHU7KH³H[WHQGHGSURGXFHU´FDW-
egory is the most populated group only among male students that label themselves as very expert. The group is 18 percentage points bigger if we compare experts and very experts male students. Yet, female students do not act as their male colleagues. On the contrary, the “extended produc-
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er” is not the most populated group among very experts female students. Interestingly, while men tend to be less and less present in the “facebook-
HUV´ DV WKHLU LQWHUQHW VHOIHI¿FDF\ LQFUHDVHV ZRPHQ SUHVHQFH UHPDLQV
stable. These results seems to indicate women inclination towards social XVHVRIWKHLQWHUQHWQRWZLWKVWDQGLQJWKHLULQWHUQHWVHOIHI¿FDF\
Plain
Not expert
Web consumer Sociable
Omnivore
Total (100%)
Female
42,10% 24,20%
16,80%
16,80%
772
Male
34,20% 34,20%
16,10%
15,40%
149
Female
31,20% 22,70%
24,20%
21,90%
343
Male
15,00% 40,80%
15,80%
28,30%
120
Female
23,20% 29,20%
22,00%
25,60%
336
Male
19,60% 35,10%
16,90%
28,40%
148
11,30% 20,70%
28,10%
39,80%
256
Male
4,70%
19,30%
20,40%
55,60%
275
Total
Female
539
416
359
393
1707
31,60% 24,40%
21,00%
23,00%
100,00%
Total
Male
111
124
252
692
17,90%
36,40%
100,00%
Suf. expert
Expert
Very expert Female
205
16,00% 29,60%
Tab. 7: Internet skills self-evaluation, gender and internet consumption styles.
Not expert
Suf. Expert
Expert
Very expert
Total
Casual Variegated Facebookers
Extended Total
female
55,00%
14,60%
25,30%
5,10%
644
male
53,00%
21,40%
19,70%
6,00%
117
female
45,40%
20,70%
26,80%
7,10%
295
male
35,90%
31,10%
19,40%
13,60%
103
female
35,90%
19,30%
32,90%
11,90%
295
male
37,30%
30,20%
15,10%
17,50%
230
female
26,10%
26,60%
22,90%
24,30%
218
male
22,20%
27,80%
14,80%
35,20%
230
female
651
270
389
142
1452
44,80%
18,60%
26,80%
9,80%
197
159
96
124
34,20%
27,60%
16,70%
21,50%
male
576
Tab. 8: Internet skills self evaluation, gender and online content production styles.
Discussion
In our analysis of students “new media habits” we performed two cluster DQDO\VLVDQGLGHQWL¿HGIRXUSUR¿OHVRILQWHUQHWXVHDQGIRXUSUR¿OHVRI
RQOLQHFRQWHQWSURGXFWLRQ,QHDFKFOXVWHUDQDO\VLVZHLGHQWL¿HGDSUR¿OH
representing the maximum intensity of use and extension of activities: they are called “omnivores”, for internet use styles, and “extended pro-
ducers”, for online content production or sharing styles. At the extreme A. MAINARDI
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opposite – which means the minimum engagement with the Internet - we have two groups we called “plain users” and “casual producers”. The styles that correspond to a more intense and variegate use of the internet or content production (“omnivores” and “extended producers”) are more common in the male sample, while the less elaborated and di-
YHUVL¿HG³SODLQ´DQG³FDVXDOSURGXFHUV´DUHPRUHFRPPRQLQWKHIH-
PDOHVDPSOH7KLV¿UVWUHVXOWFRQ¿UPVOLWHUDWXUHFODLPVRQPHQKDYLQJ
a privileged relation with technology and internet geeks being mostly male. However, the initial purpose of this study was to explore the role that gender differences play in internet adoption. We found out that is PRUHVXLWDEOHWRDQDO\]HWKHLQWHUPHGLDWHSUR¿OHVWKDWUHSUHVHQWXVHUVIRU
whom certain online practices and web platforms are preferred. While it is true that women conduct fewer online activities and produce or share less contents, this doesn’t imply a less intense relationship with internet. ,QSDUWLFXODUWKURXJKERWKRXUFOXVWHUVZHKDYHLGHQWL¿HGDJURXSWKDWLV
VWURQJO\GH¿QHGE\RQOLQHDFWLYLWLHVFRQGXFWHGIRUFRPPXQLFDWLRQDQG
for maintaining social relations. The results show that these styles are preferred by female students. The “sociable” users in fact are 21% among female students and 17.9% among males. In a similar way, we see many women in the “facebookers” group (26.8% versus 16.7% male). The oth-
HULQWHUPHGLDWHSUR¿OHV³ZHEFRQVXPHUV´DQG³YDULHJDWHGSURGXFHUV´
are instead preferred by male students. This result is in line with existing researches stating that women online experiences are oriented towards communication (Bracciale 2010;; Mazzarella 2005;; Harris 2008).
2XU DQDO\VLV DOVR FRQ¿UPV WKDW ZRPHQ WHQG WR KDYH ORZHU LQWHUQHW
VHOIHI¿FDF\+DUJLWWDL6KDIHU:LWKLQRXUVDPSOH³YHU\H[SHUW´
women are only 15% while men claiming to be “very expert” are much more (39%). Interestingly, this strong relation between gender and skills self-evaluation doesn’t fully explain gender differences in online prac-
tices, as we initially presumed. Female students, in fact, adopt styles of internet use based on social communication even when they consider themselves highly skilled in matters of internet use. Differently, among PDOHVKLJKHULQWHUQHWVHOIHI¿FDF\DVVRFLDWHVZLWKKLJKHUDJHQF\PRUH
diverse and frequent online activities) falling into the “omnivore” and ³H[WHQGHGSURGXFHU´SUR¿OHV$VDFRQVHTXHQFHVDPRQJPDOHVLVPRUH
FRPPRQWRDFWDVZKDWFRXOGEHGH¿QHGDVDQinternet geek6HOIHI¿-
cacy alone is not an exhaustive category to explain gender differences. Instead we suggested to take into consideration how gender is articulated ZLWKLQVSHFL¿FFRQWH[WV0RQJLOL
Ultimately our analysis seems to indicate that there is a difference, in-
stead of a gap or a divide, regarding internet adoption by gender. To grasp the nuances of these differences, we should not focus only on the stereotypical geek or the advanced user, but take into serious account RWKHU FRQ¿JXUDWLRQV RI LQWHUQHW XVH ,Q RUGHU WR DFKLHYH WKLV DLP WKLV
article analyzed a range of different styles of internet use and focused particularly on the intermediate ones. However, in describing university students internet adoption we conceptualized internet use in a normative way identifying groups set at the opposite poles for their level of engage-
A. MAINARDI
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ment. Our research and next studies on gender differences in internet use should bring into question the mainstream idea of a technological identity expressed merely with a extended and deep engagement with technologies and a passionate relationship to computing.
$V ¿QDO UHPDUNV ZH ZRXOG OLNH WR QRWH WZR OLPLWDWLRQV RI RXU VWXG\
Primarily, gender is considered only as an operational dichotomous vari-
able and not in its complexity or performativity: for that purpose a qual-
itative methodology is more suitable. Secondly, our results should be FRQWH[WXDOL]HGZHDUHFRPPHQWLQJRQDYHU\VSHFL¿FVDPSOHFRPSRVHG
E\,WDOLDQXQLYHUVLW\VWXGHQWVIURPWKH1RUWKRI,WDO\DQGIURPVSHFL¿F
GHSDUWPHQWVPDQ\RIZKRPLQWKH¿HOGVRIVRFLDOVWXGLHVRUKXPDQLWLHV
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versity Press, Bologna. Seiter Ellen, 2003, 7HOHYLVLRQDQGWKH,QWHUQHW, in Jospeh Turuw and An-
drea L. Kavanaugh (eds), The Wired Homestead, MIT Press, Cambridge.
Turkle Sherry, 1988, &RPSXWDWLRQDOUHWLFHQFH:K\ZRPHQIHDUWKHLQWL-
mate machine, in Kramarae Cheris (ed.), Technology and Women’s Voic-
es, Routledge & Kegan Paul, New York.
Van Dijk Jan, 2005, 7KH'HHSHQLQJ'LYLGH,QHTXDOLW\LQWKH,QIRUPDWLRQ
6RFLHW\, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Van Zoonen Liesbet, 2002, Gendering the Internet: Claims, Controver-
sies and Cultures, in “European Journal of Communication”, n. 17 (1), pp. 5–23.
Varma Roli, 2007,:RPHQLQ&RPSXWLQJ7KH5ROHRI*HHN&XOWXUH, in “Science as Culture”, n.16 (4), pp. 359-376.
Vigdor Linda, 2011, $7HFKQR3DVVLRQWKDWLV1RW2QH5HWKLQNLQJ0DU-
JLQDOLW\([FOXVLRQDQG'LIIHUHQFH, in “International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology”, n. 1(3).
Wajcman, Judy, 2009, )HPLQLVW7KHRULHVRI7HFKQRORJ\, in “Cambridge Journal of Economics”, n. 34(1), pp. 143–152. Wilder Gita;; Mackie Diane;; Cooper Joel, 1985, Gender and computers: WZR VXUYH\V RI FRPSXWHUUHODWHG DWWLWXGHV, in “College Students. Sex Gender differences in online con-
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Roles”, n.13, pp. 215-228.
Williams Sue;; Ogletree, Shirley, Woodburn William;; Raffeld Paul, 1993, *HQGHU 5ROHV &RPSXWHU $WWLWXGHV DQG '\DGLF &RPSXWHU ,QWHUDFWLRQ
Performance, in “College Students. Sex Roles”, n. 29 (7/8), pp. 515-525.
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Participation and responsible consumption in the practice of contemporary barter
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di Giulia Airaghi, PhD at University Cattolica di Milano
giuliafederica.airaghi@unicatt.it
Abstract
7KHSDSHUVHHNVWRUHYHDOWKHSROLWLFDOQDWXUHRIWKH¿HOGRIFRQVXPSWLRQSURSRVLQJDQ
alternative approach to political consumerism, which in based on the theory of practice. The practice of online contemporary barter is analysed to show the important role of WLPHLQRXUHYHU\GD\FRQVXPSWLRQSUDFWLFHVDQGWKHFRQÀLFWLQJUHODWLRQZKLFKH[LVWV
between them. The aim is to demonstrate that is not the single act of consumption being SROLWLFDOEXWLWLVWKHHQWLUH¿HOGRIFRQVXPSWLRQKDYLQJDGHHSSROLWLFDOQDWXUH
Il contributo cerca di mettere in luce la natura politica del campo dei consumi propo-
nendo un approccio alternativo a quello della teoria del consumerismo politico, ba-
sandosi sulla teoria delle pratiche. La pratica del baratto contemporaneo online viene analizzata per dimostrare il ruolo occupato dal tempo nelle nostre pratiche di consumo TXRWLGLDQHHLOFRQÀLWWRFKHVLLQVWDXUDWUDGLHVVH/¶RELHWWLYRqTXHOORGLGLPRVWUDUHFKH
non è un singolo atto di consumo ad essere politico bensì l’intero campo dei consumi.
N°3 – 2013
ISSN 2036-9700
Keywords
barter, political consumerism, theory of practice, participation
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The Responsibility in Consumption
The role of the consumer in our western postmodern society has since long time shifted at the centre of the attention of many scholars in different disciplines, since as mass consumption spread more and more people got involved in this activity and developed certain abilities to perform their role. The position the consumer held in the production-consumption cycle changed according to the notion people had of the market system and to the amount of information circulating among producers and consumers: the rise and development of the information technology GHHSO\ LQÀXHQFHG WKLV UHODWLRQ ERWK EHFDXVH SURGXFHUV PRGL¿HG WKHLU
communicational strategies and because consumers learnt how to deal with this communication. In particular, consumers began to manage goods and their meanings to create systems of sign used to communicate LGHQWLWLHVDQGDI¿OLDWLRQVRURWKHUZLVHGLIIHUHQFHVDQGFRQWUDVWV
This transformation occurred since everybody engaged in acts of consumption, independently of the social class, the ethnical background, the age or gender: anybody can express his or her taste and preference in FRQVXPSWLRQ¿QGLQJDQXPEHURIRWKHUSHRSOHZKRVKDUHWKHVDPHWDVWHV
and feel the same needs. The enormous variety of consumption goods offered to individuals leave them with the possibility of choosing what best suite their needs. The freedom of choice is indeed the most powerful discourse made on consumption and is the lens through which many scholars looked at this world for many years, also due to phenomenon of mass consumption which actually gave the possibility to choose to everybody. Nevertheless, this democratization of consumptions led to a massive activity of production which add to satisfy such a huge demanding market whose desires and needs were always more “stimulated” by the production itself. The freedom of choice that the market allows has a price in terms of the bad consequences that such level of production generate on different levels: from a serious and dangerous pollution produced by industries which are actually threatening the survival of nature and good healthy condition of all human beings, to a logic of human and child labour exploitation which is increasing the gap between richer and poorer countries and is denying the basic human right to many people, not talking about the FRPPRGL¿FDWLRQRIKXPDQUHODWLRQV
5HVSRQVLEOH FRQVXPSWLRQ LV WKXV GH¿QLQJ DOO WKRVH FRQVXPHUV ZKR
having developed a consciousness of this situation, focus the attention much more on the collective consequences that their consumption choices will produce, rather than the satisfaction of a private desire. The FRQVXPHULVDFWXDOO\PRUHDZDUHRILWVSRVLWLRQDQGLWVSRZHUWRGH¿QH
together with the production system and the institutionalized politics the meaning of social life itself. This is why consumption is now perceived as a dimension belonging much more to the public sphere rather then the private one, and the PDUNHWDVD¿HOGZKHUHSXEOLFLQVWDQFHVDUHDWVWDNH,IQHROLEHUDOLVP
gave to business actors the power of shaping our construction of reality, Participation and responsible consumption in the practice of contemporary barter
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consumers learnt how to deal with it becoming part of a decisional process through their everyday choices, directing their critiques toward those commercial actors instead of criticising governments and political structures. Consequently the symbolic value of goods circulating in society is always more political than social, and the responsible consumer turned to be a political consumer.
The Theory of Political Consumerism
3ROLWLFDOFRQVXPHULVPLVGH¿QHG³DVWKHHYDOXDWLRQDQGFKRLFHRISURGXFHUV
and products with the aim of changing ethically, environmentally or politically objectionable institutional or market practices” (Micheletti, Stolle, Berlin 2012, p. 145). Scholars of political consumerism agree on depicting four ways through which consumers engage in this practice: ER\FRWWEX\FRWWGLVFXUVLYHDFWLRQVDQGOLIHVW\OHVFKRLFHV7KH¿UVWRQHV
are two forms of respectively negative and positive consumption, entailing the decision of not buying something with the intention of criticising the attitude of a company or the act of buying something recognising the good ethical behaviour a company has shown. The discursive action type of political consumerism refers to the communication activity a subject perform to express, in a variety of ways and places, the opinion on corporate policy in an effort to spread the consumers’ consciousness;; while the last form of political consumerism is chosen by whom want to make his or her private life a sphere where responsibility is taken and common values are shared (Micheletti, Stolle, Berlin 2012).
Despite the fact that we already experienced various forms of political consumerism in history, is for sure nowadays that we see more and more people engaging in this practice. Analysing the history of commerce (Berstein 2010) we can clearly see how many attempts were tried by XQVDWLV¿HGFRQVXPHUVRUSURGXFHUVWRFKDQJHWKHUXOHVRIPDUNHWRQFH
governed by political institutions), but what we are now observing is an active involvement of a wider group of citizens, who might not be directly affected by the consequences of certain kind of commercial activities, but who still get involved in this kind of protests. For example, there are people who are not buying certain products because their production implies an exploitation of human labour (often child labour) through terrible working condition: even if they are not the exploited workers and neither are some of their relatives or loved ones, e.g. they do not have a direct interest, they do believe is their responsibility not to stimulate such kind of production. The taking of responsibility is the key feature of this issue because is exactly what institutionalized politics is supposed to do. Beyond the form of a global politics which gave more and more power to some actors to SOD\ D FUXFLDO UROH LQ WKH PDUNHW WKH UHDVRQ ZK\ WKLV ¿HOG EHFDPH VR
politicized is also due to the inability of political parties to answer to the demand of citizens: these structures are in fact supposed to articulate and aggregate the interests of groups of population, at the same time Participation and responsible consumption in the practice of contemporary barter
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establishing the space for collective identities to be formed. Giving the membership to a precise political party thus ensure to the citizen the promise to be represented but at the same time it means delegating responsibility-taking to the organization (Michelletti 2002). In political consumerism, the “consumer-citizen” (Micheletti 2002) is not willing to intend anymore the act of responsibility-taking as collective, and he actually creates his own political setting based on everyday life choices, among which there are consumption choices. Micheletti used the term “individualized collective action” to describe this attitude and she GH¿QHGLWDV³WKHSUDFWLFHRIUHVSRQVLELOLW\WDNLQJWKURXJKWKHFUHDWLRQ
of everyday settings on the part of citizens alone or together with others to deal with problems which they believe are affecting what they identify as the good life” (Micheletti 2002, p. 229).
The lack of trust in governmental institution has been already detected by Beck (1992) when he theorized the emergence of “active subpolitics”. He maintained that politics was moving from the classical and traditional places where we observed political participation to be performed in public and private sphere of subpolitics. This was seen by many scholars as a threaten to the political involvement of citizens, the very prior condition for a healthy democracy, but we should now notice indeed that citizens found other ways to express their political opinions and other means to participate and defend their instances. Political consumerism practices are hence forcing us to reconsider the very notion of political participation, underlying the fact that those transformations occurred in WKHSROLWLFDO¿HOG
grew out of a diversity of political practices that originated from actors that often were (strictly speaking) situated outside the realm of institutionalized politics. Whether they are called interest groups, old/new social movements, civil society or activists, these actors broadened the scope of the political and made participation more heterogeneous and multidirectional. In some cases these political practices were still aimed at impacting directly on institutionalized politics, but in other cases their political objectives diverged from the ‘traditional’ and were aimed at cultural change. […]Not only do we witness a broadening of the set of actors involved in political activities, but also an expansion of the spheres that are considered political. (Carpentier 2011, p. 22).
(YHQ LI LV QRZ UHFRJQLVHG WR EH DQ LPSRUWDQW UHVHDUFK ¿HOG PDQ\
scholars suggest we should not overestimate political consumerism and be careful in describing consumption as one subpolitical sphere. They argue that “consuming is not voting” (Sassatelli 2008) referring to the fact that consumption is not organized as a direct political action, often UHODWHGWRVSHFL¿FSULYDWHLQWHUHVWVDQGVWURQJO\FRQQHFWHGWRRXUQHHG
for distinction (Bourdieu 2004). Most of us is involved in consumption in order to satisfy a self-interest or to solve a private problem and even who’s buying some sort of “political” goods (see for example the Fair Trade products) still need a particular conceptual framework to perceive his/her consumption as political. If we accept that different meanings are given to products by different consumers, than we can’t even say that Participation and responsible consumption in the practice of contemporary barter
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in the same form of political consumerism everybody engaging in the practice intend it as political. An Application of the Theory of Practice to Consumption
From my point of view we should move beyond this interpretation and start to consider consumption from another perspective. From one side there are scholars who are in fact emphasizing the fact that the political does also involve private self-interest (Burtt 1995) but on the other side we should consider the possibility of shifting our attention on the whole practice of consumption, instead of focusing separately on the object, the subject, the meaning. Theory of practice (Reckwitz 2002) might be really useful in this sense to help us approaching the issue from a different angle. The very interesting point of the theory is that it might be considered neither individualist nor holist since its focus is on how different groups and individual engage and perform different practices. In Reckwitz words a practice is: a routinized way in which bodies are moved, objects are handled, subjects are treated, things are described an the world is understood. To say that practices are ‘social practices’ is indeed a tautology: A practice is social, as it is a ‘type’ of behaving and understanding that appears at different locales and at different points of time and is carried out by different body/minds (Reckwitz 2002, p. 250). This notion doesn’t imply an high degree of organization and consensus in the performance of the practice, since it deals with the social organization of life also on a daily, repetitive base but it reveals at the same time the HQJDJHPHQW LQ VRFLDO FRQÀLFWV DQG SROLWLFDO DOOLDQFHV ZKLFK SUDFWLFHV
unveil: as I said before, the theory of practices doesn’t concentrate neither on the individual and the contracts he makes in establishing relations, nor on the social or cultural structure. The most fundamental feature of a social practice is that it takes time. If we consider consumption practice activities such as going to the supermarket, to the restaurant, to cinema, buying a pair of shoes or a new computer, and many others, are all time demanding activities. Is far too evident also for non scholars that the timing of social life has become more and more complicated and life seems to go at an incredible pace due to several reasons. In the life of a middle class western citizen less hours DUHGHGLFDWHGWRZRUNDQGKHJDLQPRUHOHLVXUHWLPHZKLFKKDGWREH¿OOHG
by many activities and the development of media technology has also contributed in changing the perception and the real amount of disposable time: people can actually manage to be involve in two practices at a time (e.g. talking at the phone and going for shopping, or be at the workplace and booking an holiday). The consequences of these transformation are debated by intellectuals who maintain from one side that this is producing an unhealthy speed of life (that’s why the raise of movement calling for a slow life, slow food, etc, that is the slow movements), but on the other side that this engagement in so many activities is actually a good sign of Participation and responsible consumption in the practice of contemporary barter
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social participation (Shove, Trentmann, Wilk 2009).
But even if technology helps us to be multitasking we are still limited by time and space and we can’t afford to be involved in more than a certain number of activities at a time as we still have to keep performing our practices in a precise time schedule. These pragmatic aspects of social practices let us consider, as Elisabeth Shove cleverly did, the fact that VLQFHSHRSOHKDYHWRPDNHRU¿QGWLPHLQZKLFKWRGR±LHWRSHUIRUP±SUDFWLFHV
it is reasonable to suppose that if new practices are to take hold, time has to be made for them at the expense of others which are no longer performed, or not performed as frequently as before. This reasoning points to a zero-sum model of daily life in which practices compete with each other for necessary temporal, as well as material and cognitive, resources (Shove 2009, p. 18). From this perspective we can see that practices are competing to gain such a scarce resource as time is and the taking hold of a practice at the H[SHQVH RI DQRWKHU JHQHUDWHV D FRQÀLFW ZKLFK LQGLFDWHV WKH UDLVH RI D
VRFLDOFRQÀLFWEHWZHHQGLIIHUHQWLQVWDQFHVDQGPRGDOLWLHVRIDSSURDFKLQJ
social life. Coming back to the idea of a political form of consumerism conceived as a form of political participation, we can now analysing it from a different perspective. If it’s true in fact, that not everybody who’s involved in a form of political consumerism understand his/her involvement as an act of responsibility taking in a decisional process, is nevertheless a fact WKDWKHVKHLVSDUWRIWKHSUDFWLFHWKDWVSHFL¿FSHUVRQLVJLYLQJWLPHWR
the practice to exist and not giving time to another practice. And as the practice sees a wider involvement of people it gains a different place in the assessment of the social life: another practice will be abandoned JHQHUDWLQJSHUKDSVVRPHNLQGRIVRFLDOFRQÀLFWV
:KDW,ZDQWWRVXVWDLQUHIHUWRWKHQDWXUHRISROLWLFDOLWVHOIZKLFK¿QGV
space in many spheres of social reality, constituting a dimension of the consumption practices in which we are all involved on a daily basis. As a result, is the practice being political without the subjects giving it a political meaning. To test this assumption I will now proceed analysing WKHSUDFWLFHRIEDUWHULQJRQOLQHWKURXJKWKHDQDO\VLVRIDVSHFL¿FFDVH
study, the barter website “reoose.it”.
The barter Case Study
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ZKLFKEHVWGH¿QLWLRQLVDQH[FKDQJHRIREMHFWVRUVHUYLFHZLWKRXWWKHXVH
of money. For money being the contemporary pieces of coins and paper usually printed by a competent organism, without intrinsic use value as a physical commodity, and which derives its value by being declared by DJRYHUQPHQWWREHOHJDOWHQGHU7KLVVSHFL¿FDWLRQLVYHU\LPSRUWDQWIRU
RXUGH¿QLWLRQRIEDUWHULQFRQWHPSRUDU\SHULRGEXWDOVRWRGHVFULEHZKDW
ancient barter was, since there is a strong debate about which were to be Participation and responsible consumption in the practice of contemporary barter
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considered form of barter, gift or monetary exchangen.1. $PRQJWKHPDQ\IRUPVRIEDUWHUZHHQFRXQWHUQRZDGD\VZHFDQ¿QGWKH
exchange of objects between subjects in a non-mediated way (that is when people physically meet in street market or organized swap party carrying with them all the objects they are intended to give for receiving other objects);; the exchange of objects between subjects in a mediated way (that is using the virtual web space to perform the practice);; the exchange of services/objects between businesses in a mediated way (for example when a lawyer give a legal consultancy to a dentist who cured his tooth cavity). Although the last type of barter is a quite interesting one, due to the legal issue it entails (not using money also means not registering the service, hence not paying taxes), this paper will be focused just on the VHFRQGW\SHSUHFLVHO\RQDVSHFL¿FZHEVLWHJLYLQJWKLVVHUYLFH
, FKRVH WKLV ZHEVLWH DPRQJ PDQ\ EHFDXVH LW ZRUNV E\ D VSHFL¿F
mechanism which clearly testify on the scarceness of time and the VSHFL¿FLQWHQWLRQRIPDNLQJEDUWHUDVXVWDLQDEOHSUDFWLFH:KHQWDONLQJ
about barter in fact, we have to keep in mind the fact that it is an highly WLPHGHPDQGLQJSUDFWLFHQRWRQO\RQHSHUVRQPXVW¿QGDQREMHFWVKH
likes owned by another person, but the latter must like some objects of WKH¿UVWRQHWKDWLVLQEDUWHULWPXVWEHDFFRPSOLVKHGWKHSULQFLSOHRI
the double coincidence of needs. To get to this important stage a proper relation must be built between barters: they should discuss about the REMHFWVWKH\DUHZLOOLQJWRH[FKDQJHDQG¿QGWKHRQHVWKDWPDWFKHVWKHLU
reciprocal needs. In this sense they are proceeding in giving objects a value which is thus generated in the exchange relation itself, and they are not exchanging objects because of their value, as Appadurai (2005) highlighted. In my case study the mechanism is made easier because, as the manager of the website told me during an in-depth interview, the form of pure barter was not accessible to all those people who didn’t have enough time. For this reason the website “reoose.it” works with credits, which are automatically assigned to each uploaded objects and users of the website can thus “buy” or “sell” objects through the means of credits. Credits are not obviously substituting money in its value, but just in one of its VSHFL¿FIXQFWLRQWKDWLVWKH\ZRUNDVDPHGLXPRIH[FKDQJHn.2;; the value of credits is thus an exchange value and not a use value. Consequently we shall have users who are just searching for objects and users who are mainly offering objects, and they might not match in a single exchange: In his impressive work on primitive money, Einzig (1966) describes how many different kind of objects were used to exchange goods, thus considering those exchanges an example of primitive monetary system and not barter. Following his the-
sis we should end up considering barter a practice that had practically no relevance in the history of commerce.
2
Money as we know it nowadays has four functions: it is a medium of exchan-
ge, that is, it solves the problem of the double coincidence of needs. It is a unit of ac-
count because it gives the standard value for economic exchanges, it stores value being VWDEOHRYHUWLPHDQGNHHSLQJLWVYDOXHDOVRZKHQLVUHWULHYHGDIWHUDWLPHDQG¿QDOO\LW
works as a standard of deferred payments.
1
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this form of barter is hence called “asynchronous barter”. The criteria used to assign these credits are based on a fundamental assumption: which is the ecological footprint of the object? Said it in another way, how polluting is the process that it would be needed to destroy that object if it was thrown away instead of bartered?n.3 Credits are establishing a value, which is given in order to guarantee the exchangeability of those objects which are more polluting: a washing PDFKLQHLVZRUWKIHZFUHGLWVRWKDWLWZLOOEHHDVLHUWR¿QGVRPHRQHZKR¶V
spending his/her credits on it, and it won’t end up in dump. In this way the website created a mechanism which guarantees an easier circulation of those goods which would be a serious threaten for the environment (beyond being a relevant expense sustained by the local administration), thus establishing a concrete example of sustainable practice.
For what concern credits, we can see how the system created enhance the participation to the practice: there are in fact three ways to get credits. 7KH¿UVWLVRIFRXUVHH[FKDQJLQJREMHFWVWKHVHFRQGLVGRLQJDVHULHVRI
actions intended to promote the website (inviting friends to register gives credits, connecting the website account with the Facebook account give credits), and the third is buying credits with money. If the third modality is made for whom has a low “temporal capital” but a considerable HFRQRPLFRQH WKH¿UVW DQG WKHVHFRQG LQ SDUWLFXODU EHQH¿WV ZKR KDV
JRWDVLJQL¿FDQWFXOWXUDODQGVRFLDOFDSLWDOEXWSHUKDSVDORZHFRQRPLF
capital). Thanks to the vast social network that a contemporary social actor is able to manage (also through the use of social media), receiving credits can be an easy task ensuring a good access to “goods for free”: the more I invite my friends the more credits I’ll receive which will allow me to get almost every object I like. Not surprisingly, statistical data of the website show that teenagers are the most active barters: they know how to exploit a technology (high cultural capital), they have a vast social network which share the same knowledge (high social capital) and they aren’t economically independent (low economic capital). Furthermore, in crisis period not only young people are willing (or actually need) to have an access to goods for free: one of the main reason why people approach the practice of barter is evidently an economic reason, that is, they experience a shortage of money. But, as teens are doing, also adults ¿QGLWFRQYHQLHQWWRVKDUHZLWKWKHLUVRFLDOQHWZRUNWKHPHPEHUVKLSLQWKH
website, increasing enormously the number of people actively involved. From this perspective we know that there are some actors engaging in the practice of barter without considering it neither a sustainable practice nor a political choice. At the same time, we know that there are other actors who give to their involvement in the practice a precise meaning which, beyond being focused on sustainable behaviour, it entails a precise political position. Nevertheless, always more subjects are involved in the practice, because of the credit system and even if it wasn’t their precise intention to participate, after being invited they experiment the The whole set of criteria used to assign credit consider a much more complex range of variables expressed in a special algorithm designed by the website manager.
3
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EHQH¿WV RI WKH SUDFWLFH EHFRPLQJ DFWLYH SDUWLFLSDQWV 7KDQNV WR WKLV
mechanism and to the fact that the exchange, even if asynchronous, still imply a contact between barters, there are always more users involved who spontaneously created a community where they can discuss about sustainable practices and share opinion on how they intend they role as responsible consumers. Website data now show a community of about 15.000 users. 4.5 Conclusion
Even if there are lots of people who approaches the “reoose.it” website searching for a cheap way to get objects, once involved in the practice they spent time doing it. They are forced to follow the website’s rules in order to perform the practice and get the best out of it (which means satisfy a private interest). Furthermore the credits system, beyond enhancing the SDUWLFLSDWLRQWRWKHSUDFWLFHLWVHOIDOVRVWLPXODWHDUHÀH[LYHSURFHVVLQ
those people who were not understanding this practice through a meaning of sustainability framework. In the virtual space of the website meet responsible consumers together with consumers focused on their private interests only and consumers who understand their role in the production-
consumption cycle in many different ways. But what really matters for society as a whole is the fact that this practice exists, is performed by a consistent number of actors and it represents an alternative way to exchange goods from the normal monetary exchange system. With its mere existence the practice is stating that a different way of assigning value to objects, performing economic exchanges, establishing relations in the market exists. It represents an alternative discourse compared to the mainstream which can’t be just ignored: presenting a difference it shows that the monetary exchange system might not be the best practice WRXQGHUVWDQGHFRQRPLFH[FKDQJHKHQFHFUHDWLQJVRPHNLQGRIFRQÀLFW
which is political in its nature.
As a consequence even if political participation is always intended as a YROXQWDU\DQGUHÀH[LYHDFWWKRVHZKRDUHQRWHQJDJLQJLVVXFKSUDFWLFHV
with the intention of being political are still a part of the practice which is political in itself. We should reconsider once again the meaning of political participation and consider the possibility that it doesn’t precisely come from a strong willingness to change the world with massive and popular actions, but it may be much more about changing it in everyday OLIH SUDFWLFHV , ZRXOG ¿QDOO\ VXJJHVW WKDW WKH SROLWLFDO GLPHQVLRQ RI
consumption should be analysed more deeply. References
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Ulrich Beck, 1992, Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, Sage, London.
William J. Berstein, 2010, Il lauto scambio. Come il commercio ha Participation and responsible consumption in the practice of contemporary barter
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rivoluzionato il mondo, Tropea Editore, Milano.
Pierre Bourdieu, 2004, La distinzione: critica sociale del gusto, Il Mulino, Bologna.
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Proposal, in “American Political Science Review”, 87, pp. 360-368.
Nico Carpentier, 2011, 7KH FRQFHSW RI SDUWLFLSDWLRQ ,I WKH\ KDYH
DFFHVV DQG LQWHUDFW GR WKH\ UHDOO\ SDUWLFLSDWH", in “Communication Management Quarterly”, 21, pp. 13-36.
Paul Einzig, 1966, Primitive Money in its Ethnological, Historical and Economic Aspects, Pergamon Press, Oxford/New York.
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Andreas Recwitz, 2002, 7RZDUG D 7KHRU\ RI 6RFLDO 3UDFWLFHV $
GHYHORSPHQW LQ &XOWXUDOLVW 7KHRULVLQJ, in “European Journal of Social Theory”, 5, pp. 243-263.
Roberta Sassatelli, 2008, Consumi e democrazia. Consumi critici, mercati alternative, giustizia globale, in Paola Rebughini e Roberta Sassatelli, a cura di, Le nuove frontiere dei consumi, Ombre Corte,Verona, pp. 59-72.
Elisabeth Shove, 2009, Everyday Practice and the Production and Consumption of Time, in Elisabeth Shove, Frank Trentmann and Richard Wilk, edited by, 7LPH &RQVXPSWLRQ DQG (YHU\GD\ /LIH 3UDFWLFH
0DWHULDOLW\DQG&XOWXUH, Berg, Oxford/New York, pp. 17-33.
Elisabeth Shove, Frank Trentmann and Richard Wilk, edited by, 2009, Time, Consumption and Everyday Life. Practice, Materiality and Culture, Berg, Oxford/New York.
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SOCIAL ACTIVISM AND PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY
N°3 – 2013
ISSN 2036-9700
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Participatory culture and collective satire: the Spinoza.it case
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di
Mattia Sebastiano Gangi, PhD student at Sapienza University of Rome
mattia.gangi@uniroma1.it
Serena Gennaro, PhD student at Sapienza University of Rome
serena.gennaro@uniroma1.it
Christian Ruggiero, Researcher at Sapienza University of Rome
christian.ruggiero@uniroma1.it
Abstract
Il paper analizza la “produzione satirica grassroots” del blog www.spinoza.it, che sta accrescendo la sua visibilità sui media mainstream come fonte di notizie satiriche e di citazioni. L’analisi dei post politici di Spinoza.it copre un arco temporale di un anno (da giugno 2011 a maggio 2012), e segue due linee di ricerca: a. la produzione satirica come processo circolare;; b. l’individuazione di una retorica politica o antipolitica.
This paper analyzes the “grassroots political satire production” of the blog www.spi-
noza.it, gaining space on public debate of the mainstream media as object of the news production and as source of quotations. The analysis on Spinoza’s political posts covers one year (from June 2011 until May 2012), following two research lines: a. the satirical SURGXFWLRQ VHHQ DV D FLUFXODU SURFHVV E LGHQWL¿FDWLRQ RI SROLWLFDO DQG DQWLSROLWLFDO
discourse.
N°3 – 2013
ISSN 2036-9700
Keywords
Grassroots, Satire, Politics, Journalism, Blog
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Participatory culture and collective satire
In Italy, as in other Western democracies, the web has become a fertile ground for the production and dissemination of political satire. During the “Berlusconi age” the focus of these satirical contents was the private life of the former prime minister;; a phenomenon that is easy to explain considering the “personalization” of politics realized by Berlusconi. Conversely, with Mario Monti’s government, policy issues and economic reforms have become the target of Italian satire. ,QWKLVFRQWH[WWKHVDWLULFDOJHQUHLVRYHUÀRZLQJLWH[FHHGVWKHWUDGLWLRQDO
containers (television and newspapers) and widens the arena of production through a reworking of reality carried out by an audience of non-experts. The personalization of consumption thus joins the customization of SURGXFWLRQDFFRUGLQJWRXVHUVSHFL¿FLQWHUHVWVWKDWDULVHLQFRQQHFWLRQ
with – and become part of– a real community that often form the basis of the collective creative process. This way the relational dimension of production, which involves also the identity of the consumers, becomes clearer;; in this process the relationship between author and his/her audience, and the border between production and consumption, will gradually fade. As suggested by della Porta (2012), the Internet has facilitated the development of epistemic communities and advocacy networks (Keck and Sikkink 1998) that produce and spread alternative information on various issues. (della Porta 2012, p. 49)
In this sense, the role of social network sites (SNS) in the production and dissemination begins to play an important role: thanks to the possibility offered by SNS to publish self-produced satirical posts, videos and comments, the result is a collective negotiation of meanings of information and statements. Political satire can thereby be seen as part of a bigger logic of the “cultural convergence” emphasized by Jenkins (2006), and, as pointed out by Mascheroni (2012) it: Participatory culture and collecti-
ve satire: the Spinoza.it case
LV VLJQL¿FDQWO\ DOWHULQJ WKH ERXQGDULHV EHWZHHQ SURGXFWLRQ DQG FRQVXPSWLRQ
of media content, and, arguably, audiences’ relationship not only with cultural industries and their products, but also with politics. (Mascheroni 2012, p. 208)
From the point of view of the effects on public discourse, and the political RQHLQSDUWLFXODUWKH³WDPWDP´ERUQRQWKHZHEDURXQGVSHFL¿FWKHPHV
can bring to light VDWLULFDOO\ GHYHORSHG issues. They will gain backing from the mainstream media, obtaining a more important position within the same media agenda and becoming news themselves. As suggested by della Porta (2012): “multiplying spaces for the exchange of ideas, the Internet also improves understanding by allowing for the development of multiple critical public spheres. (della Porta 2012, p. 44)
The potential of (viral) dissemination that web satire produces, increases M. S. GANGI
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WKH LQWHUHVW LQ VXFK FRQWHQW WR D YLUWXDOO\ LQ¿QLWH DXGLHQFH 7KDQNV WR
the variety of topics treated, this includes even individuals with little experience on political issues. For them, political satire will gain both an informative and an entertainment value. Regarding the impact of satire on the levels of political knowledge, as noted by Sampedro Blanco and Valhondo Crego in relation to television info-satire (IS), it is essential to differentiate between types of users. An attentive audience in fact has information available from various sources, which may occur and which build cognitive schemas on political issues. An inattentive audience uses heuristics or shortcuts starting directly from what they see in IS (Sampedro Blanco, Valhondo Crego, 2012, p. 51).
For what concerns the relationship between democracy and the social media, it is important to recognize the weight of the economic, cultural and social variables in order to understand the different ways of using WKH PHGLD 7R XQGHUVWDQG WKH FDSDFLW\ RI PRELOL]DWLRQ DQG RIÀLQH
involvement of the so-called “produsers” (Bruns, 2006), it seems worthwhile to emphasize the fact that the new role played by the public-
author puts users in a position to become an inter-active part in the public debate. The fact that a
citizen no longer has to be a passive consumer of political party propaganda, government spin or news media, but instead is actually enabled to challenge discourse, share alternative perspectives and publish opinions their own (Loader and Mercea, 2012, p.3)
perfectly matches with Castells’ theory (2000). Information is the starting point and the raw material of new technologies and the logic of the network becomes the cornerstone of the production and distribution of content, and above all of grassroots.
Participatory culture and collecti-
From Berlusconi to Monti: unconventional satirical targets at the stake
The importance of studying the satirical discourse’s changing in the months that marked the end of the fourth Berlusconi government and the beginning of the “technical government” led by Mario Monti lies in the drastic shift from a radicalized form of entertainment politics to an ostensibly form of understatement politics. Especially in the second half of his political career – we can say since 2002, when, during an EU meeting in Caceres, he performed an obscene gesture behind the head of Spanish foreign minister Josep Pique – Silvio Berlusconi shaped his communication style on an original mixture of rhetoric and comedy. That is the radicalization of a precise strategy he used to demonstrate his extraneousness to traditional politics and his ability in being a “man of the people”: the cancellation of every semantic interruption between political, entertainment, sports key-words M. S. GANGI
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and symbols (Prospero 2010). A strategy that somehow anticipated the discursive integration theorized by Geoffrey Baym:
This is not simply the move toward “infotainment,” although the fundamental EOXUULQJRIQHZVDQGHQWHUWDLQPHQW±DFRQÀDWLRQWKDWFXWVERWKZD\V±LVFHUWDLQO\
a constituent element. Rather, it is a more profound phenomenon of discursive integration, a way of speaking about, understanding, and acting within the world GH¿QHGE\WKHSHUPHDELOLW\RIIRUPDQGWKHÀXLGLW\RIFRQWHQW'LVFRXUVHVRI
news, politics, entertainment, and marketing have grown deeply inseparable;; the languages, styles, and practices of each have lost their distinctiveness and are being remolded and melded into previously unthought combinations (Baym 2004, p. 6).
Berlusconi’s communication strategy triggered a counter circuit in Italian politics, since his opponents never found a working counter-strategy;; in Italian journalism because many interviewers and moderators found themselves overwhelmed by his “liveliness”;; in Italian satire because the necessity to confront with a man who embodied “entertainment politics” gave several cues to the satirist. At the same time it gave a new and GHVWDELOL]LQJ VLJQL¿FDQFH WR WKH DVVXPSWLRQ WKDW politics has its own entertainment genre in the form of satire (Keighron 1998). The change of government, and the temporary disappearance of Silvio Berlusconi from the political scene, was no less traumatic. Mario Monti, well known for his previous position as European Commissioner, chose to abandon the former Prime Minister’s style, imposing few participations to both hard and soft news television programs, scarce public statements VXEVWDQWLDOO\ FRQWDLQHG WR RI¿FLDO SUHVV FRQIHUHQFHV D SODFLG
communicative style applied to economic issues and the avoidance of political controversies. But the interest of the Italians for politics is revealed by the dominance of an anti-political attitude, the technical parenthesis seems not to dim – visible for example in the success of another kind of comedian, Beppe Grillo. To frame the concept of anti-politics, that will be one of the key-
words of our analysis, and its connection with satire, it is useful to quote how van Zoonen read it in the light of Bourdieus’s theory: In fact, Bourdieu considers popular anti-political attitudes a revolt against the monopoly of professional politicians over politics. Such a legitimate anti-politics can take the form of jokes, satire, cynicism, and apathy, and, paradoxically, D SROLWLFDO VWUXJJOH DERXW SROLWLFV >«@ ,QVRIDU DV WKHVH FRQÀLFWV FRXOG QRW EH
DUWLFXODWHGZLWKLQWKHSROLWLFDO¿HOG>«@WKH\KDYHEHFRPHSDUWRIWKHDUJXPHQWV
around cultural citizenship […]” (van Zoonen 2005, p. 6).
What we can hypothesize, then, is that the subjection of politics to economics brought with Monti’s government can be seen as a new kind of excess of power exercised by a class of professionals, and hence an incentive to both political and satirical action. Participatory culture and collecti-
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Satirical virtuous circle: from the Net to the mainstream , and back
The relationship between top-down processes taking place on mainstream media and grassroots cultural practices happening on the Net can be seen DVFLUFXODU7KLVDVVXPSWLRQLV¿UVWRIDOOVXUURXQGHGE\VRPHFRPPRQ
sense elements, regarding the access to sources of information on one hand, and the tendency of every subject acting in the LQIRUPDWLRQVRFLHW\ to highlight its interconnectedness on the other;; Moreover, it is made more evident in the case of political satire. 1RWRQO\VDWLULVWVFRXOGKDUGO\KDYHDFFHVVWR¿UVWKDQGSROLWLFDOQHZV
but journalistic mediation gives them further information to process: the “core” of elements that will be made known to the audiences, the ¿UVW UHVXOWV RI D QHJRWLDWLRQ EHWZHHQ WKH ZRUOG RI SROLWLFV DQG WKDW RI
news reporting, the different frames in which an identical information could be presented. In return, grassroots satirical outcomes represent, for the mainstream media, not only a way to demonstrate its attention for what happens out of the walls of political parties and news corporations, but an irreplaceable instrument for calibrating strategies and feeding the debate. Mainstream media cite some politician’s statements;; they become working materials for individual or collective subjects who use them to produce and diffuse jokes on the Net;; the most successful ones JDLQ D ¿UVW VWHS RI DFNQRZOHGJHPHQW LQ WHUPV RI FRPPHQWV OLNHV DQG
sharings, and a second one reaching the broader audience of mainstream media – e.g. being cited by a well-known Tv comedian;; that brings that successful joke to the attention of politics and media-men, who are somehow obliged to take this new kind of “vox populi” into account;; the status of “participant to the public debate” conquered by that individual or collective satirist will bring to more visibility and resources (both symbolical and economical), and feed the virtuous circle. This is what, according to De Rosa, Ederoclite and Reda, happened to Spinoza.it: The success of the Web – the Spinoza case teaches us – is measured when it is able to assert itself out of the Net. Maintaining the strictly rule of sharing, in the last two years Spinoza.it has given birth to two satirical books: 6SLQR]DDYHU\
serious blog (2010) and 6SLQR]DDODXJKZLOOEXU\\RX (2011), both editorial successes, published by Aliberti. Spinoza is, therefore, an example of those initiatives that, having started on the Net, can break the barrier of cyberspace to become a cult phenomenon for a new political culture, managing to garrison public debate to the point that either comedians like Roberto Benigni didn’t hesitate to get inspired from it (De Rosa, Ederoclite, Reda 2012, p. 178).
Two elements of Spinoza.it’s “break of the barrier of cyberspace” can be found in the corpus of articles built for this research. Of the 154 articles that have been found questioning the database of the Italian Chamber of Deputies online press review (rassegna.camera.it) by the keyword “Spinoza” in a period between the 1st of June, 2011, and the 30th of May, 2012, in a full-text search on all available national newspapers, 51 were excluded because the citation was to the Jewish philosopher, and other Participatory culture and collecti-
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EHFDXVH WKH UHIHUHQFH ZDV WR WKH ER[ RQ WKH ¿UVW SDJH RI ³,O )DWWR
Quotidiano”. The Roman left-wing-oriented newspaper decided, since its foundation, on September 23rd, 2009, to host a satirical section in its ¿UVWSDJHQDPHG³&DWWLYHULH´³1DVW\WKLQJV´DQGVLJQHGE\Spinoza.it. A little space, nearer to the “classical” sketch than to a written editorial, EXWWKDWUHSUHVHQWVDQLQQRYDWLYHPL[RIWKHLPPHGLDF\RIWKH¿UVWDQG
the power of writing technology. Moreover, another 6 articles deserve to be treated as a case apart: Spinoza.it appears as one of the authors cited by Paolo Siepi in his section “Periscopio” (“Periscope”) on the economical, juridical and political journal “Italia Oggi”. The choice to insert the jokes produced by satirical collective Spinoza.it near to statements by some of the most important Italian columnists constitutes a sort of recognition of its “opinion leader” function, gained on the Net and practiced on the mainstream media, and a clue of the circularity of the contents between these two worlds. Corpus of analysis – valid articles on total articles
Articles found from wwww. rassegna.camera.it by the keyword “Spinoza” between the 1st of June, 2011, and the 30th of May, 2012 Articles excluded because the word “Spinoza” was referred to the philosopher Baruch Spinoza
Valid articles
154
51
103
Corpus of analysis – valid articles types
$UWLFOHVH[FOXGHGEHFDXVHWKH\DSSHDUHGLQWKHER[RQWKH¿UVW
page of Il Fatto Quotidiano
Articles excluded because Spinoza.it was quoted in Italia Oggi’s press review
Articles regarding Spinoza.it’s jokes used in order to discuss current agenda issues
Valid articles
83
6
14
103
The collective satirical group as an author, a jackal, an unwitting inspirer
$QDO\VLQJWKHQHZVSDSHUDUWLFOHVWKH¿UVWHOHPHQWZHFDQUHSRUWLVWKHGDLO\
space for the short statements of Spinoza.it on the popular newspaper “Il Fatto 4XRWLGLDQR´WKHEHVWMRNHVDUHLQVHUWHGLQDVPDOOER[SXWRQWKH¿UVWSDJH
called “Cattiverie” (“Nasty things”). This way the Roman left-wing newspaper opens a direct window on the web, acknowledging Spinoza.it not only as a trustworthy collective of humorists but also as an hilarious source of materials that “do politics” cohabiting in a “serious” context. Although the environment KDVFKDQJHGWKHHI¿FLHQF\RIWKHVDWLUHLVSUHVHUYHGDQGLWVDXGLHQFHLVDPSOL¿HG
by the newspaper readership. After the success of this experiment, “Il Fatto Quotidiano” granted more space to the “Spinoza’s guys” quoting their jokes in M. S. GANGI
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various articles and even going towards a deeper involvement: Ma il signore quanti ne ha unti?n.1, published on November the 9th, 2012, is signed by the Italian humorist Vauro and the Spinoza collective. Luca Telese, a former journalist of “Il Fatto Quotidiano”, quoted them in the opening of his article Sta in disparate, ma anche no: il ritorno di Veltroni all’ombra di Monti, 21/02/2012) summarizing the Democratic Party’s political strategy with one of their statements “Com’è noto nel Pd esistono due version delle cose: una miope ed una astigmatica”n.2 – the reference was to a deep fracture between two “wings” of the party on one important work issue. But “Il Fatto Quotidiano” is not the only “mainstream news-source” remediating SpinozaLW¶VFRQWHQWVZHFDQ¿QGRWKHUH[DPSOHVLQDYHU\
different context, both from the political and from the thematic point of view . Fabrizio Caccia, writing on “Corriere della Sera”– one of the oldest and authoritative newspapers in Italy – expresses his warnings about the “sadistic irony” of the web;; in his article Otto milioni di mandanti: applausi choc sul webn.3, published on December the 10th, 2012, he quotes continuously Spinoza.it, accusing them to use an awkward humor after a bomb exploded on the Italian inland revenue (Equitalia) agency’s building. “Il Futurista”, a political magazine linked to the Italian speaker of the house Gianfranco Fini, also starts his article Allarme a Cologno: e se torna il Caimano?n.4 (27/10/2011) with a Spinoza.it’s joke.
The most paradigmatic example of the studied phenomenon is the “Crozzaeincolla” case;; here we can observe the interconnected environment where politics, satire and journalism open their borders and talk to one another. In the article Che tristezza il comico Crozza beccato a copiare le battuten.5, published on “Il Giornale” on the 9th February 2012, the journalist Alessandro Gnocchi writes about the showman Maurizio Crozza, caught copying from Twitter his jokes for the political talk show “Ballarò”. After his usual monologue, whereby the artist opens the Tv show, a democratic deputy report on Twitter the “theft”, linking in his post the stolen jokes and the video from “Ballarò”. In a few seconds some users of Twitter create the hashtag #copiaeincrozzan.6, one of the most quoted that day on the famous social network. As a consequence, it was recalled how many other comedians copied from the webn.7, to underline the fact that, unlike them, Maurizio Crozza decided not to 1 +RZ PDQ\ SHRSOH DUH DQRLQWHG E\ *RG", referring to the famous “joke” of Silvio Berlusconi: “I’m anointed by God”.
2 $VLVZHOONQRZQWKHUHDUHWZRYLVLRQVLQVLGHWKH3GRQHLVP\RSLFDQGWKH
other one astigmatic. 3 Eight million of instigators: shocking applauses in the web.
4 Alarm in Cologno: what about the Caiman return? Referred to Nanni Moretti’s ¿OPRQ6LOYLR%HUOXVFRQL
5 6RVDGWKHVKRZPDQ&UR]]DFDXJKWFRS\LQJKLVMRNHV. 6 From the Italian expression “copia e incolla”, copy and paste. 7 Roberto Benigni used a crack conceived by the Spinoza.it guys, and thanked them in a famous interview on RaiTre. Participatory culture and collecti-
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cite his sources, nor to recognize his own faults, writing a letter of reply published on the “Corriere della Sera”.
Analyzing the post #1: Berlusconi vs. Monti
The 105 political posts analyzed, made up by the last six months of WKHIRXUWK%HUOXVFRQLJRYHUQPHQWDQGWKH¿UVWVL[PRQWKVRIWKH0RQWL
government (June 2011 - May 2012) have been divided into eight categories (President, Prime Minister, Government, State, political parties, leaders and representatives of political parties, legislative and referendum) on the basis of the topics covered. Corpus of analysis – posts
President
Prime Minister
Government
State
Political parties
Leaders and representatives of political parties
Legislative
Referendum
Total (June 2011 - May 2012)
3
37
14
7
10
28
4
2
105 Among the categories selected, “President of the Council of Ministers” deserves a particular attention. Considering the central role of the Prime PLQLVWHU LQ ,WDOLDQ SROLWLFV DQG WKH LQFUHDVLQJO\ VWURQJ SHUVRQL¿FDWLRQ RI WKH
political communication languages, satire in Italy is very often directed toward the statements and even the body language of the head of government. Through a careful analysis of the Spinoza’s posts dedicated to Silvio Berlusconi before, DQGWR0DULR0RQWLODWHUZHFDQLGHQWLI\WZRVDWLULFDOSUR¿OHVWKDWGHVSLWHWKH
differences, have the same sense of humor in common. Starting with the former prime minister Berlusconi we can identify four principal topics, used to make fun of his weak points: his animated sexual life, the frequent suspects about his relationship with organized crime, his inclination to lie, and his role in the economic crisis of the country. 7KH¿UVWWRSLFLVRIFRXUVHULFKRIMRNHVDERXWKLVSUHIHUHQFHIRU\RXQJJLUOV
the lies he said about the “Ruby”case and other different “Sex gates”, including nasty things about his wife, and his relationship with other girls involved (Il medico di Berlusconi: “Può fare sesso 5 volte al giorno”. Batterie non inclusen.8. [demerzelev]n.9, Julythe 11th, 2011;;Berlusconi scartò la Arcuri %HUOXVFRQL¶VGRFWRUVDLGKHFDQKDYHVH[¿YHWLPHVSHUGD\%DWWHULHVQRW
included.
9
The jokes as followed by the nickname chosen by the author when registering and posting on Spinoza.it. 8
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perché ritenuta volgare. Si vede che di solito glielo succhiano con le posate. [misterdonnie] n.10, September the 18th, 2011,and also Berlusconi GH¿QLVFHOD0HUNHO³FXORQDLQFKLDYDELOH´(RUDKDVRORXQPRGRSHU
smentire. [frandiben] n.11, September the 11th, 2011).Attacks and heavy humor either characterize the “coverage” of the ethical behavior of Mr. Berlusconi, seen as a corrupter, a liar, and one of the worst Italian public men ever (Berlusconi: “Me ne vado da questo paese di merda”. Però SULPDFLKDLIDWWRLFDVWHOOL>PL[@ n.12, Berlusconi candida Alfano. Quale delle tre è più fastidiosa? [milingopapa]n.13, Non è colpa di Berlusconi se c’è la criminalità organizzata. Semmai viceversan.14, and also Berlusconi SUHQGHVRWWREUDFFLR7UHPRQWLÊLOEDOORGHLTXDTXDUDTXjn.15 No pity for the resignation day, when Berlusconi was forced to end his fouth government experience due to the market pressures (Berlusconi atteso al Colle. Vedi Napolitano e poi muori. [marco dalla sardegna]n.16;; Berlusconi: “Non sono attaccato alla sedia”. Vedrai appena daranno corrente. [faber]n.17, Voci di dimissioni di Berlusconi: la Borsa schizza. E non solo lein.18, and also Scene di giubilo fuori dal Quirinale. Che esagerati, mica è morto! [novevonbismarck]n.19).
Different arguments but same treatment since November 2011have been used for Mario Monti. The new prime minister, former banker and well UHFHLYHGE\WKH¿QDQFLDOPDUNHWVLVVHHQIURPWKHZHEFROOHFWLYHDVDQ
insensitive bureaucrat, a shark who does not care about the workers’ future. The humor focused on the new policy of austerity started by Monti’s government, and the social consequences of its heavy measures (“I killer di Melissa la pagheranno” ha dichiarato Monti rispondendo a una domanda sulle esenzioni Imun.20;; ,OODYRUR¿VVRqPRQRWRQR/¶,WDOLD
Berlusconi rejects Manuela Arcuri because he considers her too cheap. (YLGHQWO\WKH\EORZKLPZLWKFXWOHU\.
11
Berlusconi calls Angela Merkel “unfuckable big as”. Now he has just one to prove it.
12
%HUOXVFRQLVD\V³,¶POHDYLQJWKLVVKLWW\FRXQWU\´<HVEXWEHIRUHKHEXLOW
castles with it.
13
%HUOXVFRQLQRPLQDWHVWUXVK$OIDQR:KLFKRQHLVPRUHQRLV\" (played on the same way to say “nominate” at the third person “candida” and the Italian name of the trush “candida”). 14
It’s not Berlusconi’s fault if there’s organized crime, but vice versa.
15
%HUOXVFRQLWDNHVWKHDUPRI7UHPRQWL,W¶VWKH³TXDTXDUDTXj´GDQFH´played on the similar sound of the “qua qua dance” (a popular song for kids) and the word “quaquaraquà” that means “ man without honor”.
16
7KH3UHVLGHQWRIWKH5HSXEOLFLVZDLWLQJIRU%HUOXVFRQL0HHW1DSROLWDQRDQG
then die, played on the popular motto “See Naples and then die”.
17
%HUOXVFRQLVDLG³,¶PQRWDWWDFKHGWRWKHFKDLU´<RX¶OOVHZKHQWKH\VWDUWWKH
power.
18
Rumors talks about Berlusconi’s resignation, the stock market jumps. And PDQ\RWKHUVGRLW.
19
6FHQHVRIMR\IURPWKHRXWVLGHRIWKH4XLULQDOH:KDWDQH[DJJHUDWLRQKH¶V
QRWGHDG\HW.
20
³7KH NLOOHUV RI 0HOLVVD ZLOO SD\ IRU LW´ VDLG 0RQWL DQVZHULQJ D TXHVWLRQ
about the Imu, played on the recently introduced Italian tax on the property’s name. 10
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è una repubblica fondata sull’improvvisazionen.21;;Monti vede una luce in fondo al tunnel della crisi. Sono i disoccupati che si danno fuocon.22,and also 0RQWL³2UDODIDVH&UHVFL,WDOLD´(QODUJH\RXUSHQLVRODn.23).
$V ZH FDQ VHH WKHVH SUR¿OHV FUHDWHG IURP WKH DQDO\VLV RI WKHVH MRNHV DUH
the result of a complex game of detraction based on the main weaknesses of WKHWZRPHQ,QWKH¿UVWFDVHWKHVKDSHGKXPRURISpinoza’s is addressed to Berlusconi as a politician and as a man;; on the other hand, in Monti’s case political action prevails over the human aspect. These results validate the initial theory according to which there is a switch in the Spinoza’s humor, caused E\WKHGLIIHUHQFHVEHWZHHQWKHWZRPHQ7KHSKHQRPHQRQLVQ¶WFRQ¿QHGMXVW
inside the web but concerns all the satirical expressions;; starting from TV and radio impersonations and ending to newspaper’s cartoons, the whole “satire world” is involved in this change. With the end of the “Berlusconi’s age” (as we called it before in this work) a whole repertoire of jokes and witticisms lost his effectiveness, forcing authors and comedians to rethink their style. Observing the Spinoza¶V FDVH ZH FDQ ¿QG WKH VDPH PHFKDQLVP EXW XQOLNH
other professional comedians, a continuity in the style. Although the arguments used to attack Mario Monti are very often related to his political action, we FDQ¶W¿QGVLJQL¿FDQWGLIIHUHQFHVLQWKHKDUVKQHVVZLWKZKLFK³Spinoza’s guys” scold the political power. To conclude, no matter what is the face of the man, Spinoza.it has always something to reproach, and they do it in the bad way. Analyzing the post #2: politics vs. anti-politics The birth and expansion of the bottom-up model in the production and distribution of media content on the Internet has encouraged the emergence of participatory communities consisting of “produsers” (Bruns 2008). The satirical collective blog Spinoza.it, born in 2005 as “permanent laboratory of satire” and elected in the last three years the EHVW,WDOLDQEORJVHHPVWR¿WSUHWW\ZHOOWKLVGH¿QLWLRQ,WLVSRVVLEOHWR
VHHLQLWRQHRIWKHFRPPXQLWLHVGH¿QHGE\WKH³&ROOHFWLYHLQWHOOLJHQFH´
theory: based on “this ability to leverage the combined expertise of WKHLU PHPEHUV´ -HQNLQV¶ FRPPXQLWLHV DUH GH¿QHG WKURXJK ³YROXQWDU\
WHPSRUDU\ DQG WDFWLFDO DI¿OLDWLRQV´ DQG DUH ³KHOG WRJHWKHU WKURXJK WKH
mutual production and reciprocal exchange of knowledge” (Jenkins 2006, p.35).
To join the project and propose contributions users have to log in for the forum (which are recorded 28.862 users) and submit ideas to the HGLWRU 7KLV PHGLDWLRQ ¿JXUH LV DOVR IRUPHG E\ D JURXS RI XVHUV ZKR
have the task of choosing the best beats and publishing them on the blog: grassroots production passes so through a renegotiation of the meaning of the main events in news, politics and current events through which users simultaneously become blog authors and users of the content produced. As suggested by Cepernich, indeed, “horizontal relations in web 2.0 $SHUPDQHQWMRELVPRQRWRQH,WDO\LVDUHSXEOLFIRXQGHGRQLPSURYLVDWLRQ.
22
0RQWLVHHVDOLJKWDWWKHHQGRIWKHWXQQHO,W¶VDQXQHPSOR\HGZKRVHWKLPVHOI
RQ¿UH.
23
0RQWLQRZWKH³&UHVFL,WDOLD´SKDVH(QODUJH\RXUSHQLVROD.
21
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deconstructs the concept of “author”, releasing the satirical product from LWVFUHDWRU7KHDXWKRULQGHHGORVHVFRQWURORILWVXVHWRWKHEHQH¿WRIWKH
public” (Cepernich 2012, p.78).
It is often theorized that communicative action inside these communities is characterized by a high level of partisanship and homogeneity within the community itself (Cepernich 2009) and that the effects are so largely redundant, tending to the reproduction of ideas and visions of the group (Luhmann 1983;; Marletti 2010). In the light of the analysis carried out on the collected material, we haven’t found such a bias, not in the political sense of the term: the criticisms are in fact addressed both to members of the center-left party (Bersani fotografato da solo al bar con una birra. Beve per dimenticarsi. [sisivabbe]n.24, January the 21st, 2012) , the center-right (Gabriella Carlucci lascia il Pdl. In punto di morte il partito ritrova una sua dignità. [fdecollibusn.25,Spinoza.it. November the7th, 2011), and WKH SDUWLHV WKDW KDYH PDGH WKH ¿JKW DJDLQVW WKH SROLWLFDO FODVV RQH RI
their raison d’etre (Grillo impone ai candidati del Movimento 5 Stelle di non andare in tv. Presto noti gli altri comandamentin.26, May the 12, 2012 and Istat, le famiglie perdono potere d’acquisto. Soprattutto se gli arrestano il tesoriere. [miguelmosè]n.27, April the 6th, 2012) thus excluding membership of a particular political party as a precondition to their accession to the community.
One could assume that the most involved users in the production of political satire correspond to the part of the citizenry showing distrust in politics and in which prevail, as Livolsi (2005) has suggested, feelings summarized in three elements: detachment, alienation and GLVHQFKDQWPHQW 7KLV LV UHÀHFWHG LQ WKH SDURG\ DQG LQ WKH GHVHFUDWLRQ
of their dissatisfaction with the ruling class. In the analysis carried out we can see that these three feelings can easily be found inside the satirical production considered: the disaffection with the political class is expressed through the criticism of the helplessness and inadequacy of both parties (“5RPDL1R7DYRFFXSDQRODVHGHGHO3G&HUFDQGRGLQRQ
svegliare nessunon.28”, May the 8th, 2012) and their leaders (“Bersani: “La manovra va corretta un pochino”. Sì, ma adesso calmati! [edelman]n.29”, Bersani photographed alone at the bar with a beer. Drink to forget himself.
*DEULHOOD &DUOXFFL OHIW WKH 3'/ $W GHDWK WKH SDUW\ ¿QGV LWV RZQ GLJQLW\. Carlucci is a TV presenter, candidate by Berlusconi and elected to parliament in the legislative elections of 2001, 2006 and 2008.
26
*ULOOR UHTXLUHV FDQGLGDWHV 0RYHPHQW 6WDUV GR QRW JR RQ 79 2WKHU
commandments will be announced soon.
27
,VWDWIDPLOLHVORVHVSHQGLQJSRZHU(VSHFLDOO\LI\RXDUUHVWWKHPWUHDVXUHU. This is related to the arrest of treasurer of Lega Nord party who had been accused to misappropriate the party’s funds in favor of Bossi’s family.
28
5RPHWKH1R7DYRFFXS\WKHKHDGTXDUWHUVRIWKH'HPRFUDWLF3DUW\7U\LQJ
QRWWRZDNHDQ\RQH.
29
Bersani: “Financial bill should be corrected a little bit”. Yes, but calm down! The leader of Democratic party is accused to be milksop because of his views are too 24
25
M. S. GANGI
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December the 6thLQUHODWLRQWRWKHFKDOOHQJHVDQGWKHGLI¿FXOWLHV
of the country. The feeling of detachment is also against institutions perceived as something foreign , as something ineffective with respect to the role they should play and as something not very transparent in their activity and in their relationship with the citizens (“Il corteo dei partigiani: “Non vogliamo le istituzioni”. Siete nel paese giusto. [dan11] n.30
”, April the 24th, 2012 and also “Lavitola torna in Italia. Resta il posto più sicuro per un latitante. [edelman]n.31”, April the 16th, 2012).
5.4 Conclusions Born as an informal group of friends, the collective of Spinoza.it took over on the Italian satirical scenario imposing itself as a landmark. Thanks to his recognizable style, one of the many blogs online became an authoritative source for comedians, journalists and cartoonists. What the group realized is not only a mechanical process – due to the strong guidelines they and the selection process realized by the blog’s staff – but the creation of a strong identity. Both in the Berlusconi and in the Monti periods, the Spinoza.it humor style remained identical, despite the differences about the arguments used to attack the two public men. And mainstream media attention lingered. To put the grassroots satire SURGXFWLRQLQWKH¿HOGRISROLWLFDORUDQWLSROLWLFDOGLVFRXUVHLWKDVEHHQ
evaluated the direction and the degree of Spinoza.it’s posts. References to the three elements that have historically characterized anti-political H[SUHVVLRQVDQGPRYHPHQWVZHUHQRWIRXQG,GHQWL¿FDWLRQRIDFRPPRQ
enemy against which siding, and any kind of division us vs. them, were not detected. Political class is delegitimized not in his own role, but in its way of managing public affairs. The Spinoza.it’s satirical production DSSHDUVDVDFULWLTXHVRWKLVJUDVVURRWVSURGXFWLRQLVQRWFODVVL¿DEOHDV
an expression of anti-politics. There is no call to action, but the will to ERRVWWRWKHUHÀHFWLRQRQWKHVWDWHRISXEOLFDIIDLUVWKURXJKWKHMRNHDQG
denigration. Participatory culture and collecti-
References
Baym Geoffrey (2004) 7KH'DLO\6KRZDQGWKH5HLQYHQWLRQRI3ROLWLFDO
Journalism. Paper presented at “Faith, Fun, and Futuramas”, 3rd Annual Pre-APSA Conference on Political Communication – Wednesday, September 1, 2004– Chicago, Illinois. Bruns, Axel (2008), %ORJV:LNLSHGLD6HFRQG/LIHDQG%H\RQG)URP
soft.
30
7KHSDUDGHRISDUWLVDQV³:HGRQRWZDQWWKHLQVWLWXWLRQV´<RX¶UHLQWKHULJKW
FRXQWU\.
31
/DYLWROD UHWXUQHG WR ,WDO\ 5HPDLQV WKH VDIHVW SODFH IRU D IXJLWLYH. Valter Lavitola is wheeler-dealer linked to the former Prime Minister Berlusconi. M. S. GANGI
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Production to Produsage. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Castells Manuel (2000), 7KH5LVHRIWKH1HWZRUN6RFLHW\7KH,QIRUPDWLRQ
$JH (FRQRP\ 6RFLHW\ DQG &XOWXUH 9RO ,, Cambridge, MA;; Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Cepernich, Cristopher (2012), “La satira politica al tempo di internet”, in “Comunicazione Politica”, 1.
&HSHUQLFK&ULVWRSKHU³7KHQHZWHFKQRORJLHV7KH¿UVWLQWHUQHW
2.0 election”, in Newell James L., ed., 7KH,WDOLDQJHQHUDOHOHFWLRQ
Berlusconi strikes back , Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
De Rosa Rosanna, Ederoclite Tommaso, Reda Valentina (2012) “e-politics. La satira politica in rete”, in “Comunicazione Politica”, 1.
della Porta, Donatella (2012), “Communication in movement: social movements as agents of participatory democracy” in Loader Brian, Mercea Dan, 6RFLDO0HGLDDQG'HPRFUDF\,QQRYDWLRQVLQ3DUWLFLSDWRU\
Politics, London: Routledge.
Jenkins Henry, 2006, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, New York: New York University Press. Keighron, Peter (1998) “The Politics of Ridicule: Satire and Television”. In Wayne Mike (ed.) Dissident Voices, 7KH 3ROLWLFV RI 7HOHYLVLRQ DQG
Cultural Change. London: Pluto.
Livolsi, Marino (2005), I nuovi movimenti come forma rituale, Milano: Franco Angeli.
Loader Brian, Mercea Dan (2012), 6RFLDO 0HGLD DQG 'HPRFUDF\
,QQRYDWLRQVLQ3DUWLFLSDWRU\3ROLWLFV, London: Routledge.
Luhmann, Niklas (1983), “La politica come sistema autoreferenziale”, in Id. 7HRULDSROLWLFDQHOORVWDWRGHOEHQHVVHUH, Milano: Franco Angeli.
Marletti, Carlo (2010), La Repubblica dei media. L’Italia dal politichese alla politica iperreale. Bologna: Il Mulino.
Mascheroni Giovanna (2012), “Online participation: new forms of civic and political engagement or just new opportunities for networked individualism” in Loader Brian, Mercea Dan, 2012, Social Media and 'HPRFUDF\,QQRYDWLRQVLQ3DUWLFLSDWRU\3ROLWLFV, London: Routledge.
Prospero Michele (2010) Il comico della politica. Nichilismo e aziendalismo nella comunicazione di Silvio Berlusconi. Roma: Ediesse. Sampedro Blanco Víctor, Valhondo Crego José Luis (2012),“L’infosatira televisiva e i suoi effetti” “Comunicazione Politica”, 1.
van ZoonenLiesbet (2005)(QWHUWDLQLQJ7KH&LWL]HQ:KHQ3ROLWLFV$QG
Popular Culture Converge/DQKDP5RZPDQ/LWWOH¿HOG
M. S. GANGI
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Structure of Communications and Narrative Construction of Social Movements within Social Networking Sites: the Purple People’s experience
di 0DULR2UH¿FHResearch fellow at University of Urbino
PDULRRUH¿FH#XQLXUELW
Abstract
In Italian history, marked by two decades of political leadership based on orthodox indi-
vidualization, social media could represent a leading technology towards an alternative political paradigm, calling party bureaucracy as well as traditional cooptation dynamics into question. Starting from that scenario, present paper investigates Purple People, an italian movement deep-seated on Facebook. Leading research questions are: What are structural features of digital network-centred movement? What kind of description(s) emerge from its members?
Nella storia recente dell’Italia, marcata da due decenni di leadership politica basata sull’individualizzazione estrema, i social media sembrano costituire una tecnologia gui-
da verso un paradigma politico in grado di mettere in discussione burocrazia dei partiti e dinamiche di cooptazione. Partendo da questo scenario, l’articolo analizza il Popolo Viola, un movimento italiano basato su Facebook. Le domande di ricerca principali sono: Qual’è la struttura di un movimento basato su reti digitali? Quale rappresentazio-
ne/i emergono dall’osservazione dei suoi aderenti?
Keywords
Online social movements, collective action, political participation, SNS, multi-level analysis
N°3 – 2013
ISSN 2036-9700
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Web-based technologies and social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter seem to play an important role in both individual and FROOHFWLYHSROLWLFDODFWRUVOLYHVLQÀXHQFLQJWKHLUFRPPXQLFDWLRQVW\OHV
and organizational practices (Bennett 2008, Boccia Artieri 2011). This techno-social evolution could be explained as paradigm’s shift towards environments with high levels of customization and creative (re)use of cummunicative products (Jenkins 2010). Through the lens of these changes it’s possible to retrace the growth of complex interaction between online tools for information prosumption, action strategy planning and a VXEW\SHRIFROOHFWLYHDFWRUVGH¿QHGE\SROLWLFDOVFLHQWLVWVDV³QHZVRFLDO
movements” or, using the words of Alberto Melucci, “[…] these particular organizations of groups who struggle not only for re-
appropriation of material structure of production, but, also for collective control upon social development, then, for re-appropriation of time, space, relationships in individuals everyday lives […]” (1989, cit., pp.151-152). However, some observations coming from political science, even when focus on social movements that make frequent use of new communication technologies, seem to spend much more time in describing aspects such DVVRFLRSROLWLFDORUHFRQRPLF¿HOGV7LOO\0HOXFFL'LDPDQWL
2007), political representation’s structure (Pizzorno 1982, Chadwick 2007, Jensen 2010), distribution of responsabilities and organization of internal communication (Della Porta 1996), civic engagement and leadership dynamics (Helms 2005, Dahlgren 2009). If, on one hand, these perspectives aimed at identifying structural factors through which often emerges a relationship between social PRYHPHQWV DQG DFWRUV XVXDOO\ LGHQWL¿HG DV antagonists (politicians, party organizations, governments or other social movements), on the other hand, assign small relevance to socio-communicative spaces and online interaction networks. At the same time, some scholars especially coming from communication research and media studies seem to express theoretical approaches opposite to the previous. Giving up the study of structural variables in order to highlight breaking elements from technological and communicational points of view. Attempting to redesign and expand, even on the basis of deterministic approachs, the horizons of Net-based forms of socio-
political activism (Ward & Vedel 2006, Hara 2008).
Starting from the need to understand how and for what reasons new social movements use the Net, it’s possibile to focus on the observation of three techno-political stages.
- Net as option (K\EULG PRELOL]DWLRQ PRYHPHQWV). It is characteristic of traditional party institutions as well as of social movements born simultaneously with widespread of traditional Internet applications such as the e-mail. At this regard, it’s possibile to look at “People of 6HDWWOH´ H[SHULHQFH DV ZHOO DV VFLHQWL¿F REVHUYDWLRQV PDGH E\ 'HOOD
Porta and Mosca (2006), around in-depth communication structure restyling of several S.M.O6RFLDO0RYHPHQW2UJDQL]DWLRQVZKLFK¿JKW
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for global justice. Individual and collective political actors, structured DURXQG RIÀLQH IRUPV RI DFWLRQ DQG PRELOL]DWLRQ VWDUW WR GHYHORS DQ
istrumental approach to online tools. Using the Net in order to achieve two basic goals: make information sharing within action groups easier, inexpensive and faster;; disseminate effective and redundant outside-
oriented communications (aiming at create a collective awareness DURXQG VSHFL¿F WRSLFV VXFK DV HQYLURQPHQWDO SUREOHPV RU FULWLFDO
consumption). Similarly, political parties and bureaucratic organizations still consider Net-based communications poorly incisive and unreliable when compared with mass media or other well known communicative practices such as personal/face-to-face interactions. - Net as exclusive way to prosume information (online information-
based movements). It is a typical modus agendi of collective actors that have developed thank’s to different Web 2.0 applications (wiki, EORJV VRFLDO QHWZRUNLQJ VLWHV 7KHVH DFWRUV DUH VWLOO URRWHG LQ RIÀLQH
realm (interactions based on physical proximity, strong ties with local community groups), but, use digital environments with high frequency in order to convey news or infomations through which they consolidate JURXSPHPEHUVKLSDQGLGHQWL¿FDWLRQ,QWKHVHFDVHVWKH1HWLVEHJLQQLQJ
to be regarded not only as alternative to other forms of communication or interaction, but, as powerful mean in planning actions that, however, still WDNHSODFHRIÀLQH$WWKLVUHJDUGWZRSDUDGLJPDWLFH[DPSOHVDUHGLJLWDO
network of so called “meet up” implemented in order to support Howard Dean’s electoral campaign during 2004 presidential elections (Flanagin et al. 2008) and online groups of “grillini” linked to Beppe Grillo’s blog (Di Gennaro & Pepe 2009). In both cases, hetero-directed and top-down social movements use digital media tools to develop interactions, share DQGGLVFXVVSURSRVDOVUHGXFHWLPHDQGFRVWVLQSODQQLQJRQOLQHRIÀLQH
events. Net as birthplace (digital network-centred movements). Represents the higher level of political activism tied to use of Web 2.0 digital platforms. Constitution and memberhip processes as well as action planning take place entirely online (actions inspired by political reasons such as net striking, mail bombing RU RQOLQHRIÀLQH ER\FRWWLQJ RI FHUWDLQ EUDQGV
Net use become crucial both in survival ensuring and action structure’s self-reproduction through communications and interactions. Case study RI3XUSOH3HRSOHDVVXPHGDVREMHFWRIVFLHQWL¿FLQYHVWLJDWLRQPLJKWEH
considered as belonging to this sub-group of collective actors. Research object
3XUSOH3HRSOHUHSUHVHQWV¿UVWLWDOLDQGLJLWDOQHWZRUNFHQWUHGPRYHPHQW
It was born during second half of 2009 in order to provide with organizational board those who were against some laws passed by the last Berlusconi government.
Purple People’s online structure is made by a sort of diffused network of public geo-located Facebook Pages. Trough it’s structure, social Structure of Communications and Narrative Construction of Social Movements within Social Networking Sites: the Purple People’s experience
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movement brings together people coming from different Italian regions, fostering dialogue and information exchange on a background of permanent comparison among different ideas as well as organizational strategies.
Furthermore, exploiting it’s communicative structure, it was able to organize, on December 5 of 2009, a public rally in Rome well known as WKH¿UVW³1R%'D\´1R%HUOXVFRQL'D\LQRUGHUWRGHPDQGUHVLJQDWLRQV
of Prime Minister in charge Silvio Berlusconi and denounce consensus crisis of Italian political class.
Through the lens of Purple People’s case study will attempt to answer two main research queries:
What is communicative structure in which digital network-centred movement under examination articulates itself?;; :KDWDUHPDLQIHDWXUHVRIWKRVHLQGLYLGXDOVZKRDSSURDFKDQGRUDI¿OLDWH
with Purple People’s Facebook public pages? Data Collection and Analysis
Purple People’s online network structure consists of 100 Facebook public pages. The choice has been made in favour of public pages instead of )DFHERRNJURXSVEHFDXVHWKH¿UVWDUHSXEOLFO\DFFHVVLEOHDQGWKHUHIRUH
don’t show particular problems in doing in-depth textual analysis. Traditional sampling techniques were proposed but later abandoned due to the small number of Facebook public pages and extreme heterogeneity of every potential variable (average of signed members in Facebook public pages as well as their geographic distribution). For these reasons ZDV FKRVHQ IURP WKH EHJLQQLQJV WR DVVXPH DV YDULDEOHV VRPH ¿HOGV
belonging to all (semi)public pages structure imposed by Facebook platform managers in order to obtain a uniform basis for comparison. Observed elements correspond to:
x 3DJH7\SH. This category includes the answers, provided during Facebook public page’s creation, resulting from selection, within a closed list of options, of the page type which seems to better represents pages purposes as well as founders ambitions. Collected data shows that about 40% of pages identify WKHPVHOYHVDVEHORQJLQJWR³QRQSUR¿W´W\SH:KLOHFKRRVH
to self-represent themselves as “local company” and 15% as ³FRPPXQLW\´UHÀHFWLQJDIRUPDOEXWVWURQJWLHEHWZHHQ)DFHERRN
pages holders and local areas of provenance.
x Subscription Date. Longitudinal observation of Facebook pages which gradually are formed and added to the movements online VWUXFWXUHVKRZVWZRSHDNVWKH¿UVWUHODWHGWRWLPHVSDQEHWZHHQ
December 2009 and January 2010 (immediately coincident with WKH¿UVW³1R%HUOXVFRQL'D\´DQGWKHVHFRQGEHWZHHQ0DUFKDQG
April 2010 (a period in which a lot of strikes and protests against Silvio Berlusconi give back public visibility to the movement’s Structure of Communications and Narrative Construction of Social Movements within Social Networking Sites: the Purple People’s experience
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instances).
x Socio-demographic Data. Collection of public pages belonging WR VSHFL¿F WHUULWRULDO DUHD RI UHIHUHQFH VXFK DV IRU H[DPSOH
“Popolo Viola Milano” or “Popolo Viola Abruzzo”) reveals the following results: 23 Facebook pages are linked to city districts with an average population up to 90,000 inhabitants (such as “Popolo Viola Brescia”, “Popolo Viola Vercelli”), 21 pages show no reference to geographical areas (such as “Popolo Viola nel Mondo” or “Popolo Viola- Rete Gruppi Locali”), 21 pages refer to communities with a population density of more than 100,000 inhabitants (like “Popolo Viola Roma” or “Popolo Viola Madrid”), 10 pages are referred to extra-national large cities (“Popolo Viola Madrid”, “Popolo Viola Toronto”), 4 public pages represent aggregates of small towns (“Popolo Viola Verbanio-Cusio-
Ossola”, “Popolo Viola Pistoia e Valdinievole”) and 11 refer to local regions (“Popolo Viola Puglia”, “Popolo Viola Molise”).
x &RQWHQWV SRVWHG E\ 3DJHV $GPLQLVWUDWRUV In this case, it was chosen to look at the updating contents frequency, postulating that quantity of posts and replies made by any administrator of Purple People Facebook public pages could be a valid predictor of internal activity and, therefore, communicative relevance. Data DQDO\VLVXSGDWHGWR-XO\VKRZVDVLQGLFDWHGLQ¿JXUH
Public Pages
Distribution of Purple People's Facebook Public Pages by last detected updates 45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
39
20
r 10
9-Ap
Dec 0
15
16
10
g 11
0-Au
May 1
ec 11
11-D
Sept 2
Jun 1
Jen-
2
July 1
Date
The graph seems to highlight simultaneous presence of several Purple People Facebook public pages, on average, slightly updated (and, WKHUHIRUHLGHQWL¿HGDVOLWWOHDFWLYHQXFOHXVDQGDOLPLWHGEXWZHOOGH¿QHG
group of 10 Facebook pages showing, on the contrary, higher tendency to produce and share communications.
On this path, it was tried to better understand what are main characteristics that cause interactions and information propagation among Purple People’s public pages through the calculation of degree centrality with the help of Gephi, a free software for Social Network Analysis. Examinating online networks relations that constitute basic online architecture of social movement became clear the presence of two different pages clusters. 7KH ¿UVW FRLQFLGLQJ ZLWK WKH SUHYLRXVO\ LGHQWL¿HG JURXS RI VWURQJO\
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active Facebook public pages, is characterized by high number of both in incoming (in-degree) and outgoing (out-degree) links. The second one, HPHUJLQJUDWKHUE\GLIIHUHQFHLIFRPSDUHGWRWKH¿UVWLVGLVWLQJXLVKHGE\
UDUH¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQÀRZVDQGLQIUHTXHQWLQWHUDFWLRQV
In order to pursue the analysis of produced and shared contents within social movements online structure it was chosen to examine in depth WKH ¿UVW VXEJURXS RI 3XUSOH 3HRSOH )DFHERRN SXEOLF SDJHV ZKLFK
VHHPV WR EH SDUWLFXODUO\ SUROL¿F IURP FRPPXQLFDWLRQDO SRLQW RI YLHZ
Selected public pages are: “Popolo Viola Toronto”, “Il Popolo Viola”, “Il Popolo Viola di Pergola”, “Popolo Viola Palermo”, “Milano Il Popolo Viola”, “Popolo Viola-Rete Gruppi Locali”, “Popolo Viola Pistoia e Valdinievole”, “Popolo Viola Torino”, “Popolo Viola Cuneo” and “Popolo Viola Sondrio”. Facebook Public Pages Networks and Content Analysis ,QRUGHUWREHWWHUGH¿QHWKHFRQWRXUVRIFRQWH[WLQZKLFKDSSO\WUDGLWLRQDO
content analysis techniques, it was chosen to investigate roots and type of relations existing between Purple People Facebook public pages and Facebook public pages related, but, not directly belonging to it. The ODWWHU KDYH EHHQ LGHQWL¿HG ZLWKLQ HQWLWOHG ³/LNHV´ ZKLFK LV SUHVHQW LQ
every kind of Facebook page (public or personal) where it’s possible to see, in a short list form, all preferences, expressed through time and using the “like” button, for other Facebook public pages. Social Network Analysis allowed me to map and visualize a system of relations which is structured according to three main elements: 1) nodes (represented by Purple People Facebook pages and connected Facebook public pages);; 2) directed edges (in which existing relations between the two types RI SUHYLRXVO\ LGHQWL¿HG QRGHV KDYH EHHQ WUDQVODWHG reproduction of relations according to their occurrence (each micro-structure, made RI ODUJH EXW ¿QLWH QXPEHU RI QRGHV DQG UHODWLYHO\ IUHTXHQW HGJHV KDV
been built and re-built by hand each time it emerged among observed UHODWLRQV5HVXOWLQJVWUXFWXUHOHGWRWKHLGHQWL¿FDWLRQRIDZLGHQXPEHU
of “external” Facebook public pages which seem to be quite uniform from the point of view of expressed contents. So it was possible both to group them into sub-categories equipped with internal homogeneity and obtain useful indications on context’s quality in which content analysis had to be subsequently realized.
Contents observation was built around examination of all verbal elements collected from both Facebook news boards and “notes” of the 10 Purple People Facebook pages belonging to strongly active pages sub-group. For each page was analyzed all verbal contents going back about thirty days from the detection time. Given the absence of contiguous case VWXGLHV IURP ZKLFK GUDZ LGHDV LQ RUGHU WR PDNH HI¿FLHQW FRPSDULVRQV
and extraordinary nature of investigated phenomenon, it was decided to built a light and inclusive grid of analysis. It was implemented starting from the following macro-variables:
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x
x
x
x
x
x
x
content type (web links, status updates, comments, notes);;
core theme (textual segment on relevant topics);; information source (press, radio, tv, Internet);;
importance of topic within internal agenda;;
homogeneity/heterogeneity among Facebook public pages topics;;
synchronicity/diachronicity with mainstream media agenda;;
textual elements for self-representation (such as personal UHÀHFWLRQVVWDWHPHQWVRUVWRULHVUHODWHGWRSDUWLFLSDWLRQLQRQOLQH
off line collective events);;
x FDOOWRRQOLQHRIÀLQHSROLWLFDODFWLRQ
x FRRUGLQDWLRQDQGRUJDQL]DWLRQRIRQOLQHRIÀLQHHYHQWV
x geographic area of reference (international, national, local, hyper-
local).
Then, for each page was prepared a short rèsumé reporting some contextual data (subscription time, dates of last recorded status update and notes) and fragments of text in order to support empirical observation.
Online questionnaire
This research tool, used to enrich the analysis of online contents, was carried out in a semi-structured way, with the aim of identifying more salient features belonging to that particular sub-group of Facebook users who choose to join Purple People. The questionnaire is made of 39 questions emerging from preliminary articulation of thematic areas WKURXJKZKLFKTXHVWLRQVZHUHVXEVHTXHQWO\JDWKHUHGLQVSHFL¿FEDWFKHV
x Area 1. Structural variables. Elements taken into account are: gender, age, level of education, socio-professional category, origin.
x $UHD,QWHUQHWXVH. At this area belongs all questions related to both quantity and quality of Internet use, with particular attention to information research and news sharing dynamics.
x $UHD 6RFLDO 1HWZRUNLQJ 6LWHV DGRSWLRQ. In this area were grouped questions related primarily to frequency and type of activities carried out through different online interaction platforms at which respondents said they are logged in. x $UHD,QGLYLGXDOVDQG3ROLWLFDOV\VWHP. Belong to it questions thorough which reconstruct both sentiment on politicians/political parties quality and presence (or absence) of a personal history on traditional as well as online political activism. x Area 5. Social Networking Sites and their potential in promoting political actions. This area gather questions where respondents are asked to construct the scenario that, in their opinion, could take the complex relation between civil society, new media and bottom-up politics in the next future. Structure of Communications and Narrative Construction of Social Movements within Social Networking Sites: the Purple People’s experience
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x Area 6. Relationship between individuals and Purple People’s RQOLQHRIÀLQHVWUXFWXUH. This represents core part of questionnaire and collects questions around all aspects related to: individuals and their connection with Purple People Facebook public pages, experiences and expectations, reasons for adhesion as well as for SHUVRQDOHQJDJHPHQWLQFROOHFWLYHDFWLRQVRQOLQHVXFKDVRIÀLQH
Questionnaire was addressed to individuals belonging to all 100 Purple People Facebook pages without distinction between pages DGPLQLVWUDWRUVDI¿OLDWHVDQGVLPSOHPHPEHUV6XUYH\ZDVLPSOHPHQWHG
through an online GoogleDocs form and took place in two different waves: in August 23 2012 and latter, as reminder, on September 3-4 2012. In order to reduce distortion effects especially coming from the low index of responses generally tied to this kind of technique.
0DLQ¿QGLQJV
To mantain a coherent argomentation with that achieved in previous paragraphs, it was opted for the following articulation of main results.
)DFHERRN3XEOLF3DJHV1HWZRUNVDQG&RQWHQW$QDO\VLV
Through the lens of extensive online network, including both Purple People’s pages and other Facebook public pages, “external” pages with KLJKHUUHFXUUHQFHDQGFHQWUDOLW\ZHUHJURXSHGDURXQG¿YHFDWHJRULHV
a) b) c) d) e) mainstream information sources. It collects public pages referring to traditional broadcasting channels which gather news and information coming from all over the country, particularly ones related to printed media (such as “La Repubblica” o “Il Fatto Quotidiano”) and tv ( “Servizio Pubblico” or “Annozero);;
alternative media. In this category are included Facebook public pages referred to online information sources especially satirical (“Spinoza.it”) or publicly known as source of counter-information (“Informazione Libera”, “Informare per Resistere”);;
other collective actors. Includes Facebook public pages which express structured (“ANPI - Associazione Nazionale Partigiani Italiani”), semi-structured (“Il Popolo delle Agende Rosse”) or non structured (Movimento per un referendum sull’Acqua Pubblica) organizations;;
UHSUHVHQWDWLYH ¿JXUHV. This gather Facebook public pages of YHU\VLJQL¿FDQWLQGLYLGXDOVLQV\PEROLFRUFXOWXUDOWHUPVVXFK
as: Gino Strada (founder of Emergency), Milena Gabanelli (journalist), Marco Travaglio (journalist), Paolo Borsellino and *LRYDQQL)DOFRQHZHOONQRZQDQWL0D¿DSURVHFXWRUV
pages on events:LWKLQWKLVFDWHJRU\KDYHEHHQLGHQWL¿HGSDJHV
which directly correspond to planning and implementation of Structure of Communications and Narrative Construction of Social Movements within Social Networking Sites: the Purple People’s experience
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collective political actions (“Petizione per chiedere ai politici la riduzione delle spese belliche”, “Referendum sul nucleare”, “No Berlusconi Day”).
Although, at this stage, took place an observation of formal relations EHWZHHQ)DFHERRN3DJHVLWZDVSRVVLEOHWRGH¿QHDQLQWHUQDOO\FRKHUHQW
universe characterized by references arising from political, cultural and FRPPXQLFDWLRQDOUHDOPV,GHQWL¿FDWLRQRIWKLVH[WHGHQGYHUVLRQQHWZRUN
of Facebook public pages has been used both to design a preliminary context and collect indications propedeutic to the analysis of textual contents which highlights the following trends. Pages (re)appropriation and creative uses. Content analysis of news boards and notes revealed two corresponding uses. First, structurally public, are mainly declined as spaces for promoting events and gather news and information about current topics. They are characterized by high frequency of contents updating and correlations with mainstream media agenda. Topics usually belong to society/economics (education, university, work, health care, welfare) or political affairs (party system, national or local government, act proposals, legislative decrees, parliamentary debates) realms. Selection of shared topics seems to occur along a substantial continuity both within a single public page and between them. Homogeneity that could be understood as reduction of points of view, but, also as strategic behaviour through which collect polarized opinions and reactions in order to self-reproduce a collective (digital) identity. However, notes often represent a detached space from actuality as well as from current news. They show low index of contents refresh and are acted as privileged spaces for expressing more structured communications. Notes seem to take form according to three main kinds: a) short texts on WRSLFDOLVVXHVEZULWWHQUHSRUWVRQRIÀLQHHYHQWVERDUGPHHWLQJVZRUN
groups, plenary sessions);; c) projects through which coordinate online as ZHOODVRIÀLQHDFWLYLWLHV
)URP ¿UVW REVHUYDWLRQ VHHPV WR HPHUJH WKDW DQDOL]HG YHUEDO
communications are characterized by adoption of different themes, styles and modes of expression especially because they’re addressed to different publics. First, interested in news boards, is represented by broad and vague audience of potential readers or content producers V\PSKDWL]HUV RQOLQH PHPEHUV ZKLFK DUH QR RIÀLQH DFWLYLVWV H[WHUQDO
stakeholders). Second, especially interested in notes contents, mainly coincides with movement’s head and, at the some time, with a limited DQGZHOOGH¿QHGDXGLHQFHZKLFKLQFOXGHVSDJHVDGLPLQLVWUDWRUVORFDO
RU QDWLRQDO FRRUGLQDWRUV RQOLQH PLOLWDQWV LQYROYHG LQ RIÀLQH DFWLRQV
internal stakeholders.
$GRSWLRQ RI LQGLSHQGHQW LQIRUPDWLRQ SURGXFWLRQSURSDJDWLRQ V\VWHP
creation of a shadow-agenda. Contestations against politicians and SDUW\ V\VWHP KDYH ULVXOWHG LQ WKH FRQVWUXFWLRQ RI VHOIGH¿QHG V\VWHP
able to produce and propagate news or informations. In fact, contents observation and exploration of their origins highlights a preponderance Structure of Communications and Narrative Construction of Social Movements within Social Networking Sites: the Purple People’s experience
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of internal sources. These could be collected as “direct” or “indirect” ways of news creation. The former coincides with environments in which work extended newsrooms that periodically collect materials and SURGXFH WKHLU SLHFHV RQ SDUWLFXODUO\ VLJQL¿FDQW WRSLFV ³9LRODEORJLW´
or “ViolaPost.it”). The latter are represented by platforms dedicated to gather news and information coming from other sources (as in the case of ³,O3RSROR9LRODLW´3XUSOH3HRSOH¶VRI¿FLDOZHEVLWH0RUHRYHUZLWKLQ
the second type, emerges a high prevalence of online sources that seem WR KDYH D FRQÀLFWXDO UHODWLRQVKLS ZLWK PDLQVWUHDP PHGLD (VSHFLDOO\
because of their more or less explicit aim to promote counter-information and alternative news (“Acquabenecomune.org”, “Lavallecheresiste.
LW´ DV ZHOO DV IRU WKH REMHFWL¿HG EXVLQHVV PRGHO ³<RX5HSRUWHULW´
³*LRUQDOHWWLVPRLW´³+XI¿QJWRQSRVWFRP´
(PSLULFDO HYLGHQFHV FRQ¿UP H[LVWHQFH RI VWURQJ UHODWLRQVKLS EHWZHHQ
LQIRUPDWLRQSURGXFWLRQFLUFXODWLRQDQG3XUSOH3HRSOH¶VRQOLQHDQGRIÀLQH
political actions. 7UDQVLWLRQRIFRPPXQLFDWLRQSURGXFWVIURPWKHQDWLRQDOWRORFDOOHYHO. In depth analysis of recurring topics within Purple People Facebook public pages shows a gradual shift from issues of national importance WRWKHPHVWKDWFRYHUVORFDORIÀLQHOHYHO$VKLIWDFFRPSDLQHGE\YLVLEOH
reduction of contents udpate frequency. Exploring this trend according WR D ORQJLWXGLQDO SHUVSHFWLYH LW ZDV SRVVLEOH WR ¿QG LWV RULJLQV LQ WKH
fall of last Berlusconi government (on November 2011) and its gradual disappearence from political and mediatic stages. Once fallen the main HQHP\ZKLFKKDVJLYHQDVSHFL¿FVKDSHVWUHQJWKDQGVWUXFWXUHRIDFWLRQ
at the Purple People, it seems to be determined a remarkable shift of interest towards local or hyper-local issues. Reorganization of internal priorities if, on one hand, coincided with a reduced action power on national level (exacerbated by deep clashes between Purple People’s coordinators), on the other hand, has allowed several groups to dialogue with local communities and plan actions in order to safeguard and promote micro-level issues.
Online questionnaire
After it’s pubblication, realized along two different timeframes, were collected 23 responses which show great homogeneity from structural variables point of view. They are mostly men (54%) coming from central and northern country regions, with an age above 50 years old (52%) and medium-high level of education (37% are graduated, 42% have a degree).
Internet and Social Networking Sites. With regard to questions related to types and frequency of Internet use seem to be a clear tendence at using the Net in order to “stay tuned” on current events (83%) and access to social networking sites at which they are logged in (72%). Need to NHHS XS WR GDWH RQ QHZV DQG HYHQWV VHHPV WR EH FRQ¿UPHG E\ KLJK
frequency of two online activities related to web 2.0 digital platforms. First is represented by gain knowledge of news and information through MARIO
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online contacts network (78%). Overlap between friending dynamics and news propagation allows individuals to move within network of personal relations in order to search and/or receive updates. Second was the opportunity to contribute at the news construction (67%), playing a pro-active role in the economy of egocentric network of relations and taking advantages in terms of social capital from socio-technical features of digital environments.
([SHULHQFHV UHÀHFWLRQV DURXQG SROLWLFDO V\VWHP. More than half of respondents said they are “YHU\LQWHUHVWHG” in politics (68%) and have developed a personal experience in political activism. Espressed in “light” forms which are often performed outside formal organizations such as associations or traditional parties. In fact, while 9 out of 10 respondents attended public demonstrations of protest and more than half (56%) have signed online petition, only 33% partecipated in political or party RI¿FLDOHYHQWV%H\RQGSROLWLFDOVSHFWUXPVHHPVWRHPHUJHDZLGHVSUHDG
mistrust both in central government and party institutions. This attitude expressed by the fact that 89% of people believes that actually there’s no political representative can answer requests for change coming from society. At the same time, this gap in political spectrum is considered as main reason of Purple People’s success (84% of respondents said they are “YHU\” or “somewhat agree” with this statement).
Activities, connections and individual narratives around Purple People $ERYH DOO LW¶V SRVVLEOH WR KLJKOLJKW WKDW LQ PRVW FDVHV ¿UVW
contact with online movement’s structure took place precisely on the Net. Through casual browsing (52%) or online information sources such as online newspapers, blogs and news aggregators (46%). Online news and information represent a strategic point of junction between organizational structure of Purple People and it’s militants. This was FRQ¿UPHGHVSHFLDOO\E\WZRGDWDRIUHVSRQGHQWVGHFODUHWRVKDUH
information and news they have read through Purple People Facebook public pages at which they are registered;; about 80% of respondents said they are “YHU\” or “somewhat agree” with the statement that join Purple People Facebook pages was the right choice because they can ³JHWQHZVDQGLQIRUPDWLRQRQWRSLFVQRWHQRXJKFRYHUHGE\PDLQVWUHDP
media”. $JUHHPHQW¶VSHUFHQWDJHWRODVWTXHVWLRQFRQ¿UPVH[LVWHQFHRI
relationship between political activism expressed in collective actions and propagation of alternative/complementary news and information. At the same time, when asked to make a personal evaluation about their personal experience as Purple People’s militants, most of respondents seem to be focalized on aspects tied to socialization and implementation of personal online networks of friends rather than on political or personal implications. This may be due to radicated relational predisposition reinforced by socio-technical features of medium (Facebook) and, in part, it recalls a scenario that seems to be rich in wide-ranging questions, especially regarding relationship between digital media, society and political system. Shift of attention from the national to local level is also UHÀHFWHG LQ RI UHVSRQGHQWV ZKR EHOLHYH WKDW 3XUSOH 3HRSOH FRXOG
demonstrate strenght and higher organizational potential when it’s Structure of Communications and Narrative Construction of Social Movements within Social Networking Sites: the Purple People’s experience
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oriented on local community requests. Conclusions
Along this research project has been possible to rely on a solid theoretical background which was reinterpreted with critical approach. +RZHYHU PRUH GLI¿FXOWLHV HPHUJHG GXULQJ HYDOXDWLRQ DQG VHOHFWLRQ
of better methodological options. Substantial absence of theoretical systematization of analysis techniques for similar case studies seems to be the main cause. At this absence, moreover, have to be added proliferation of case studies which, focusing on new and unique research objects, have implemented new and unique methodological cases. Resizing, thus, any possibility of comparison between contiguous cases from thematic point of view and, at the same time, paying most attention to attainment of internal validity (relative to single research) in place of the external one (expressed through comparable data). For these reasons, both the grid for content analysis and construction of online questionnaire have been implemented ad hoc and result from a long preliminary observation. However, starting from interpretation of these gaps as blanks to be ¿OOHG UDWKHU WKDQ OLPLWV WR EH RYHUFRPH ZDV SRVVLEOH WR SURGXFH PRVW
RIWKHVKRZQ¿QGLQJV5HVXOWVZKLFKKRZHYHUDUHSDUWRIDQRQJRLQJ
doctoral project thesis. Retracing articulation of main results is possible WR ¿QG VRPH FHQWUDO HOHPHQWV RQ ZKLFK FDQ EH XVHIXO WR JR EDFN
First, the observation of structural variables and networks of relations within Purple People Facebook public pages has brought to light the presence of a double level which drives distribution and organization RI LQWHUQDO FRPPXQLFDWLRQV ¿UVW UHVWULFWHG DQG FKDUDFWHUL]HG E\ KLJK
FRPPXQLFDWLRQDO DFWLYLW\ LQFOXGLQJ WKH SDJHV GH¿QHG DERYH DV
“strongly active”);; second, largest and characterized by a reduced volume of communications (covering approximately 90 Facebook pages RI3XUSOH3HRSOH5HDVRQVIRUWKLVKLJKODWHQF\LQGH[FRXOGEHLGHQWL¿HG
LQVRPHLQWHUQDOVWUXJJOHVWKDWOHGVKRUWO\DIWHU¿UVW1R%HUOXVFRQL'D\
WRWKHELUWKRIVHYHUDOFRQÀLFWXDOFXUUHQWV
Observing online contents, this general reduction of internal communications seems to have coincided with crisis and collapse of last Berlusconi government. Gradual disappearance that, within historical evolution of Purple People, represents not only the end of main enemy (Silvio Berlusconi), but, also the sunset of symbolic/cultural universe (well known with the term “Berlusconismo”) of which he was founder and promoter for almost twenty years. Starting from these premises, transition to forms of micro-activism can be interpreted as result of a survival strategy (adopted by Facebook pages of Purple People as well as E\LWVRQOLQHRIÀLQHPHPEHUVWRLQWHUQDOFOHDYDJHVZKLFKKDYHUHGXFHG
the social movement’s power to act at national level. Finally, communications analysis seems to have acquired a double GHFOLQDWLRQ$V VFLHQWL¿F PHWKRG LW KDV EHHQ D IDLWKIXO PLUURU WURXJK
which observe and identify Purple People’s salient features. As research Structure of Communications and Narrative Construction of Social Movements within Social Networking Sites: the Purple People’s experience
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object, analyze dynamics of production and construction of online communications has allowed to understand how news and information represent, at the same time, a medium able to increase social movement’s online structure and a bridge between planning and implementing SROLWLFDODFWLRQV,QGLYLGXDORUFROOHFWLYH2QOLQHDVZHOODVRIÀLQH
References
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Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: L’Aquila post-quake situation
di Angelo Jonas Imperiale, independent researcher for A.S.I.A.
angelojonas.imperiale@gmail.com
Abstract
La presente ricerca approfondisce la rilevanza dell’empatia, della resilienza sociale e l’uso comune di Internet e dei nuovi media all’interno del contesto emergenziale aquila-
no e i collegamenti tra questi diversi fenomeni sociali. Quali sono le situazioni comuni e gli strumenti comunicativi attraverso i quali durante una crisi l’empatia e la resilienza sociale si attuano?Qual è il ruolo dei nuovi media nel rafforzare comportamenti altrui-
stici tra le persone di una comunità colpita dall’emergenza?
The broad aim of the present research is to investigate the relevance of empathy, com-
munity resilience and the community usage of the Internet and new media in L’ Aquila emergency context and the links between these social phenomena.
Which are the common situations, the social imaginaries and the communicative tools through which these empathic and resilient behaviours come into action during crisis? Which is the role of the new media in empowering altruistic behaviours among people of a community facing the emergency?
N°3 – 2013
ISSN 2036-9700
Keywords
Empathy, Community Resilience, New Media, Conviviality, Mutual Aid
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The broad aim of the present research is to investigate the relevance of HPSDWK\, FRPPXQLW\UHVLOLHQFH and the community usage of the Internet and new media in L’ Aquila emergency context and the links between these social phenomena. In recent years a wide literature has been produced exploring how communication networks has increased and facilitated interactivity, information sharing, interoperability, participation and collaboration on the World Wide Web. These technical features should be analysed together with the analysis of emergent and more convivial forms of social organizations that spontaneously grow up in a context of a deep crisis. New questions emerge such as: which are the common situations, the social imaginaries and the communicative tools through which these empathic and resilient behaviours come into action during crisis? Which is the role of the new media in empowering altruistic behaviours among people of a community facing the emergency? Some authors supposed that after a natural disaster or during the emergency this cooperative and empathic culture is enhanced also by media technologies and that they help the insurgence of a new intelligence against Hobbes’s conception “war of all against all”. In the present research, I will focus on concrete examples of empathy and community resilience as social phenomena that arose after L’Aquila earthquake, paying also particular attention to those self-organized websites made by little villages in L’Aquila emergency territory. They were developed with the purpose to narrate the reality of local emergency and have enhanced national and international supports throughout the World Wide Web. These websites are analysed from the perspective of the involved social actors and a multi-method approach has been adopted, FRPELQLQJLQGHSWKLQWHUYLHZVDQGRQOLQHRIÀLQHHWKQRJUDSK\DSSURDFK
Faraway from any naive techno-enthusiastic vision my research will show Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: that the Internet played different roles for these communities according L’Aquila post-quake situation
WRWKHLURZQVSHFL¿FQHHGVDQGFRQWLQJHQFLHVGHSHQGLQJE\WKHQDWXUHRI
every single case I analysed and the nature of the relationships they had and they built through the Internet.
“A Paradise built in Hell”: Aftershock Economy and Aftershock Communication, revisiting Empathy and Community Resilience conceptions
In her recent book A Paradise built in Hell, Rebecca Solnit (2009) has analysed those “extraordinary communities that arise after a disaster”. I re-propose her title in this paper as an homage to her study. With this book she has turned the light on a fundamental aspect of humanity that LVRIWHQXQGHUHVWLPDWHGGXHWRWKHVWLOOLQÀXHQFLQJ+REEHV¶VFRQFHSWLRQ
of human life as a supposed natural “war of all against all”. This same ideology has diffused the idea that the human being is essentially sly and operates deceiving others only for his private goals and interests. The mathematical certainty that there should be a causal explanation ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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of human behaviours following the only functional property of doing WKLQJV IRU SULYDWH EHQH¿WV ZDV VXSSRVHG WR VWD\ DW WKH EDVLV RI HYHU\
human activities. This has led to the strong belief that all human activities could be calculated and determined in advance according to the same individualistic principle. On the contrary, Solnit gives empirical evidence, making a detailed chronicle of a wide array of disasters ranging from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake;; the 1917 explosion in Halifax, Nova Scotia;; the devastating 1985 Mexico City quake;; Lower Manhattan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks;; and Hurricane Katrina’s 2005 deluge of New Orleans, of an altruistic humanity that arise in emergency contexts, showing fundamental features such as empathy and cooperation that seem to be more similar to the Kropotkin’s idea of humanity:
A disaster produces chaos immediately, but people hit by that chaos usually LPSURYLVHDÀHHWLQJRUGHUWKDWLVPRUHOLNHRQHRI.URSRWNLQ¶VPXWXDODLGWKDQ
it is like the society that existed before the explosion, or the earthquake, or the ¿UH,WOLEHUDWHVSHRSOHWRUHYHUWWRDODWHQWVHQVHRIVHOIDQGSULQFLSOHRQHPRUH
generous, braver and more resourceful, than what we ordinarily see. In Mutual Aid Kropotkin argues beautifully, that cooperation rather than competition can be key to survival. It does not explain desires that go deeper than survival”. (Solnit 2009, p. 95)
In her book Solnit has collected empirical proofs of an unbelievable solidarity that is put in action by people helping each others and organizing common situations where they can survive, going forward the sorrow and the private interests. As it has been said to me by Carlo Daniele (main responsible of the S. Nicandro camp of refugees after the earthquake of the 6th April 2009) :
WKHGLI¿FXOWLHVWKDWDQDWXUDOHYHQWOLNHDQHDUWKTXDNHFRXOGFUHDWHLQDFRPPXQLW\
determine the annihilation of what are the private interests, such as economic needs, money etc. All these stuff are put a part, and in that time you realize to be more brother, more near to the others and to others’ suffering. 7KLVVWDWHPHQW,KDYHFROOHFWHGSUHFLVHO\UHÀHFWVZKDW6ROQLWKDVZULWWHQ
into her book: “When all the ordinary divides and patterns are shattered, people step up -not all, but the great preponderance- to become their brothers’ keepers. And that purposefulness and connectedness bring joy even amid death, chaos, fear and loss” (Solnit 2009, p. 3). Thus, empathy towards other’s suffering bring people to help each other and think about how to survive together. It seems that after a disaster among survivors there is the extraordinary ability to spontaneously rebuild a common sense of being together that gives them back a dignity and goes behind private interests and allows people to overcome the sorrow. What Marco Marrone, the son of Sergio Marrone that we will meet later talking about San Giovanni community, told me was: 7KHQH[WGD\,ZDQWHGWRHVFDSH,KDGDPRPHQWRIFULVLV\RX¿UVWVWDUWWRORRN
ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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at your mobile phone, then you try to call and when they do not answer you, you VWDUWWRWKLQNDERXWWKHZRUVWWKHQ\RXUHFHLYHWKHFRQ¿UPDQG\RXUZRUOGIHOO
apart. My classroom mate died and also other friends of mine, and I was shocked about that. Nevertheless being together helps you: when you are together with the others, working with others, you do not realize the time passing.
Thus, cooperating, does not mean “being heroes”, but it means that survivors show a natural empathic attitude during emergency that allows the survival of the individuals within communities, and thus the social survival of communities. What Solnit shows is how often the greatest post-
disaster threats to human security and welfare come not from “anarchy” or even “spontaneity” but from the panicked, militarized overreaction of elites who fear a loss of power and control: “(...) the elite often believe that if they themselves are not in control, the situation is out of control, and in their fear take repressive measures that become secondary disasters” (Solnit 2009, p. 21). According to many contemporary researches on disasters, due to global warming and climate change, future will set aside us even more natural disasters: “Climatic disasters are on the increase as the Earth warms up – in line with VFLHQWL¿FREVHUYDWLRQVDQGFRPSXWHUVLPXODWLRQVWKDWPRGHOIXWXUHFOLPDWH«
At the same time as climate hazards are growing in number, more people are being affected by them because of poverty, powerlessness, population growth, and the movement and displacement of people to marginal areas. The total number of natural disasters has quadrupled in the last two decades – most of WKHPÀRRGVF\FORQHVDQGVWRUPV2YHUWKHVDPHSHULRGWKHQXPEHURISHRSOH
affected by disasters has increased from around 174 million to an average of over 250 million a year” (Oxfam, 2007). Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: That is why focusing on survivors ability in building “a paradise in L’Aquila post-quake situation
hell”, in feeling empathy, cooperating and putting in action altruistic behaviours towards their “brothers in tragedy”, is very important. Underlining the relevance of altruistic and empathic behaviours of the survived community, thus means having a different approach towards survivors. Recognizing the capacity and the abilities of people in feeling empathy and thus cooperating and reacting to the tragedy, is becoming more and more important in order to comprehend what kind of errors have been made by those same governmental and economic elites that we mentioned above. The UN report in 1982, two years after the earthquake of 4 February LQ*XDWHPDODKDVVWDWHGWKDW¿YHJHQHUDOPLVWDNHVKDYHEHHQPDGH
in past during relief operations and recovery processes, such as: ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
too many of the houses constructed were merely of an emergency type;; some organizations used large numbers of foreign volunteers;; too much was done under pressure and without proper consultation, so that the victims became mere spectators of the work carried out rather than participants (…) (UNDRO, 1982, p. 1).
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These preliminary considerations has brought UN in providing Policy Guidelines. The policies to avoid, during the emergency management and the recovery operations are, according to UNDRO report (1982, p. 9): 1. Actions which duplicate the efforts of survivors;;
2. Bulldozing rubble and burning timber from damaged houses, which could otherwise be recycled into new homes;; 3. Importing labour for reconstruction when there is ample labour to be found locally;; 4. Importing building materials which can be obtained locally;; 5. Compulsory evacuation, especially of women and children: although this can temporally reduce the pressure on local resources, it can cause social misery and apathy;;
6. Relocation of survivors on land which is remote from work, markets, schools and other social and economic needs;; creating large emergency campsites with risks of adverse social and environmental effects;;
7. Building imported or prefabricated temporary shelters unnecessarily. While this policies should be avoid, the UNDRO report stated also that the main goal of recovery operations is “to minimize dependency on RXWVLGH VXSSRUW DQG FRQFHQWUDWH RI¿FLDO HIIRUW RQ LGHQWLI\LQJ JDSV DQG
unmet needs with survivors participation. Advice on local housing needs is best obtained from local builders, architects or engineers”. (UNDRO, 1982: 42) And again, “survivors must have a full and effective role in determining their emergency needs, especially shelter”. (UNDRO, 1982, p 44). Along this trajectory, recent studies on disasters have increasingly focused on affected community abilities, rather than just their needs or Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: vulnerabilities, introducing the term of (GLVDVWHUFRPPXQLW\UHVLOLHQFH L’Aquila post-quake situation
that is more and more founding space in theoretical disaster risk reduction and emergency management discourses. A new complex perspective emerge through which we can learn to build a sustainable emergency management. The intimate connection between disaster recovery and the resilience of affected communities has become common feature of disaster risk reduction programs since the adoption of the Hyogo Framework for action 2005-2015 (cf. Manyena, 2006). 8QGHUVWDQGLQJ WKH FRQVWUXFW RI µFRPPXQLW\ UHVLOLHQFH¶ PHDQV ¿UVW RI
all, to comprehend the term “community” and the term “resilience” V\QWKHVL]HG E\ LW 7KHUH DUH PDQ\ GLIIHUHQW GH¿QLWLRQV RI WKH WHUP
community. In the context of disaster readiness and recovery, the term FRPPXQLW\ typically refers to “an entity that has geographical boundaries and shared fate...[being] composed of built, natural, social and economic HQYLURQPHQWVWKDWLQÀXHQFHRQHDQRWKHULQFRPSOH[ZD\V´1RUULV
cf. Bajayo, 2010, p. 1). pag. 97
Like the term community, the term resilience has a wide range of GH¿QLWLRQV LQ OLWWHUDWXUH RI HQYLURQPHQWDO VRFLDO DQG SXUH VFLHQFH
“Having roots in pure science, the term was originally used to describe ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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the adaptive capacity of a material/system to return to equilibrium after disruption;; this being operationalized as the time taken to reach homeostasis” (Norris et al. 2008: 2;;). $FURVVWKHVHGH¿QLWLRQVLWLVEURDGO\UHFRJQL]HGWKDWWKHWHUPUHVLOLHQFH
referred to human communities, organizations and societies is better conceptualized as an DELOLW\ or a process rather than an outcome. It could be interpreted as an HPHUJHQWDELOLW\ of a society to DXWRQRPRXVO\DQG
XQSUHGLFWDEO\ FKDQJH in response to changes caused by “disturbance” rather than the force that makes a system returning to one-predesignated state or function. As Pfefferbaum have noticed, community resilience is “the ability of community members to take meaningful, deliberate, collective action to remedy the effect of a problem, including the ability to interpret the environment, intervene and move on” (Pfefferbaum et al., 2005:349). Anyway, the term FRPPXQLW\UHVLOLHQFH in spite of it is an intuitive guide for a new way of tackling disasters and provide policy options, it still UHPDLQVDFRQFHSWWKDWVKRXOGEHPRUHGH¿QHG$OWKRXJKWKHUHLVDZLGH
UDQJHRI&RPPXQLW\5HVLOLHQFHGH¿QLWLRQVFI0DJLVLWLVSRVVLEOH
to detect two different gaps that this research aims to plug, suggesting a possible path for a future investigation.
7KH ¿UVW FRQFHUQLQJ SRVWQDWXUDO GLVDVWHU HPHUJHQF\ VLWXDWLRQV LV
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communities ability of building an aftershock economy that reacts to the disaster capitalism that has been theorized by Klein (2007) showing an extraordinary ability of people in feeling empathy towards others, and in autonomously building self-organized situations of social survival through cooperation. It is thus possible to analyse this ability not only in terms of “social capital” and “economic development” but also as a community ability in building a concrete alternative economy, that, Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: rather than be mainly based on private properties, develop itself towards L’Aquila post-quake situation
mutual aid and through internal sources that are put in common for the survival of the overall community. The second gap that was detected, concerns the analysis of what I metaphorically call aftershock communication: the cultural activity of survivors in “giving back” a sense to the emergency space and to solidarity through a set of several spontaneous and self-organized forms of communicative actions that are carried out by survivors directly affected by catastrophes and that give their contribution for what we could call the emerging of “Living Speech Networks” (cf. Kenny, 1999). Within this process the Internet and new media may play a relevant role in giving to survived communities more opportunities to coordinate better their activities and collecting sources from the outside volunteers’ supports. Several studies are made to underline the relevance of communal narratives on socio-cultural identities and on “community triumph in the pag. 98
face of adversity” and their role in deepening social connections and in bolstering prospects for community resilience (cf. Abramowitz, 2005;; Perez-Sales, Cervellon , Vasquez, Vidales & Gaborit, 2005), but still few ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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researches deepen the relevance of new media bottom-up community self-made narratives in preserving the survived community dignity and therefore in strengthening their resilience after a disaster. Communication could be interpreted as the most important resource for community resilience. It is an important process whereby community members and groups “articulate their needs, views and attitudes” in order to create “common meanings and understandings” (Pfefferbaum, 2005:352). Disaster researches show that local communication sources are more reliable than higher level sources such as governments and mainstream PHGLD SDUWLFXODUO\ ZKHQ LQIRUPDWLRQ IURP WKHVH µDXWKRULWLHV¶ FRQÀLFWV
with that from local sources (cf. Bojayo, ibid;; Tierney;; Bevc & Kuligowski, 2006). Like the communication of information, the framing and communication of narratives can also engender community resilience empowering the awareness of their own abilities and stimulate empathy into people from outside. Narratives are “the stories about who we are and what the world is like that inform why, when and to whom we tell tales” (Alkon, 2004, p. 5). Narratives can also function as a resource for community resilience by preserving and/or deepening socio-cultural connections or “supplies” (Sonn and Fischer, 1998, p. 468). To realize this potential a community must be capable of activating it. The skills and motivations required to do are termed FRPPXQLW\FRPSHWHQFLHV (Goodman et al., 1998). A fully realization of FRPPXQLW\UHVLOLHQFHbecome possible only thanks to two fundamental premises: x
on ontological level, HPSDWK\, that emerging sense of a “collective self” that allow people to become their “brother’s keeper”, to “feel more brothers, more near to the suffering of others”, even if unknown. x
on epistemological level, a collective rediscovering of the sense Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: and value of doing things together and cooperating with the others, that L’Aquila post-quake situation
gives people back a dignity and goes behind private interests. Sharing common meanings, community traditions and myths, the beauty of the landscape around and all same arcane community ways of living have a great value for each person in such disastrous circumstances. These ontological and epistemological premises allow the developing of an DIWHUVKRFNHFRQRP\SURYLGLQJDW¿UVWWRSULPDU\QHHGVIRUHDFK
one of the community (eating, sleeping, dressing and so on) by adopting spontaneous altruistic behaviours. The rediscovering of this common value of being together and cooperating let a new communication emerging, something similar to what Hamelink (2012) would call Communication of Hope: the aftershock communication. ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
L’Aquila post-quake situation.
Introduction
The 6th of April 2009, an earthquake of 6.3 Mw killed more than 300 pag. 99
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people, with about 1600 injured, devastated the city centre of L’Aquila and its suburbs and razed most of the historical centres of more than 70 villages around the capital city of Abruzzo, within the all the affected area that has been denominated “crater”. Among around 34.000 homeless, as WKHRI¿FLDOUHSRUWWKDWKDVEHHQZULWWHQLQ0D\La Ricostruzione dei Comuni del Cratere Aquilano (n.d.r. 7KH 5HFRQVWUXFWLRQ RI WKH
municipalities of L’Aquila crater), by the italian Minister of Territorial Cohesion has revealed, only 12.969 people live in the houses of C.A.S.E.’s project (Anti-earthquake Sustainable and Ecological Housing Scheme) and 7.202 in the so-called “M.A.P.” (Anti-earthquake and Provisional Housing Scheme). Among these 383 homeless still temporary leave into “accommodation facilities” (i.e. hotels or barracks). Over 10,000 people instead result in “self-accommodation”. About these, little is known and little has been said, and yet many of them still live in precarious conditions. After three years the whole city centre of L’Aquila is still abandoned: “the city of naked mannequins” CNN stated in its last report on L’Aquila post-quake situation (cf. 7KUHH\HDUVDIWHU/¶$TXLODDQGWKH
earthquake, “CNN iReport”, 5th April, 2012). Right now, some weak attempts of reconstruction could be detectable, but mainly concerning real estates under the protection of the Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage. At now in L’Aquila the situation is still disheartening, as the situation of the majority of those 70 villages that still are completely abandoned into their same rubble of 6th April 2009.
Notwithstanding this, the cultural, historical and architectonical beauty of these medieval villages represent the main resource of L’Aquila territory together with the beauty of its mountain landscape and the unmeasurable cultural and architectonical richness of L’Aquila down town. This impose giving the same priority of L’Aquila city to little villages around, Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: on decision makers. They should direct reconstruction of L’Aquila L’Aquila post-quake situation
territory by simultaneously involving within clear community projects of reconstruction, inhabitants of L’Aquila city centre together with those of medieval villages of its crater towards an overall sustainable rural development strategy. The special focus this research will give on community resilience that was showed by inhabitants of little villages around the capital city of Abruzzo exactly aims to turn the light on the concrete possibility of following this integrated approach.
The emergency management and the Media: the Capitalism of Disaster and the Shock Communication.
No more than 20 days after the 6th April 2009 earthquake, an entire population was already divided inside refugee camps and scattered along the Abruzzo sea coast at more than 100 kms faraway from L’Aquila emergency territory. A number of 30.124 refugees were dislocated into the hotels and private real estates in the other capital provinces of Abruzzo, faraway from their hometown, their jobs and their relatives. ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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They were so distributed: 20.430 in the province of Teramo, among these, 14.758 in 219 hotels and 1.340 in private real estates;; 5.368 in the province of Pescara, among these 4.129 in 66 hotels and 1.239 in 239 private real estates;; 3.235 in the province of Chieti, 3.190 in 121 hotels and 45 in private real estates;; 1.091 in 17 hotels of Ascoli province. Then, a number of 35.864 people were dislocated into 170 refugee camps that were spread out in the overall province of L’Aquila (data from the local daily newspaper “Il Centro”, 30th April 2009). These camps were subjected by the central command of the Department RI&RPPDQGDQG&RQWURO'L&RPD&WKHQDWLRQDORI¿FHRIWKH,WDOLDQ
Civil Protection Agency that suddenly moved in L’Aquila and became the extraordinary government of the city. This was allowed to work everywhere by substituting the local government and notwithstanding every current regulations, and it had the full legislative and executive power of the whole emergency area. To sum up, a total of 65.988 refugees was so divided and controlled. This “divide and conquer” strategy had negative consequences on L’Aquila refugees. The decision to divide the population into camps and hotels on the coast created many UHODWLRQDOGLI¿FXOWLHVHVSHFLDOO\IRUWKRVHZKROLYHGWKHVFDWWHULQJDORQJ
the Adriatic coast, forced to stay in hotels or in unknown private homes, away from their hometown, relatives and works. Living as “earthquake victims” in a place that was not their own, could have been comfortable WKHYHU\¿UVWGD\VEXWLWFRXOGQRWKLGHWKHGLVFRPIRUWWKHDOLHQDWLRQDQG
the discrimination people were forced to face living in a place that no one had chosen, faraway from dears, the University and work, properly as refugees. Moreover, the population so divided, seemed completely drugged: they had just to eat and sleep and this seemed to be enough! A perfect “device system” to carry out the general evacuation plan in order to liberate the city by its inhabitants and set it up like a mega-stage for the Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: political performance of the Berlusconi’s government.
L’Aquila post-quake situation
The situation inside those camps that were managed by the National Civil Defence and other para-military forces, was really hard to live too. Few months later the camps were renamed by the Di.Coma.C. “Welcome Areas” and properly became Indian reservations: in many cases it was “denied the access to non-residents”, and were military controlled. During this emergency process, is interesting to notice how italian JRYHUQPHQW SROLFLHV RI UHOLHI RSHUDWLRQV H[DFWO\ KDYH UHÀHFWHG D
strategy of show: a progressive mediatization (cf. Perniola 2004) of the emergency reality through which L’Aquila destroyed territory was transformed in a huge empty scenario where Berlusconi’s government and the National Civil Protection could celebrate their own spectacle. The needs of mediatization of reality have contributed to exasperate negative consequences of social evacuation: because of on July 2009 L’Aquila had to host G8s, media from all over the world had to frame only the “Italian Miracle” and the unbelievable relief operations;; no noise pag. 101
around this clear and fast positive message was accepted. ID or passports became to be asked at the entrance of each camp, so to stop any sort of exchange or solidarity with people of other refugee camps and among ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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people of the same community but dislocated in different refugee camps.
They needed an empty scenario on which building their own show to increase electoral consensus: a second evacuation wave of strong was registered in September 2009 when every refugee camp would have been dismantled. “No more tends” in L’Aquila was the winning slogan and the refugees were removed from their tends and dislocated again in hotels faraway from their own town. The reconstruction of the destroyed houses still was (as still it is) a mirage, and there still were not houses near by there where to host L’Aquila refugees. People were forced to go away from their tents and this created strong resentment among refugees that collapsed into several police actions.
“Piazza D’Armi, hours of tension.Tension and inconvenience for families left behind in the refugee camp of Piazza D’Armi where since Friday began the GLVPDQWOLQJRIWHQWV3ROLFHFDUDELQLHULDQG¿QDQFHKDYHFDPHWRGHOLYHULQD
WHQWVKHHWVQRWL¿FDWLRQZLWKWKHKHDGHURIWKHSROLFHWKDWLQYLWHVXFKSHUVRQVWR
reach destinations that have been assigned. “(“Il Centro”, 9th September, 2009) Sociality within refugee camps was managed by National Civil Defence, Red Cross or other para-military forces that wanted to have the monopoly of all the social activities within the camps: many other independent no SUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQVWULHGWRRUJDQL]HFXOWXUDODQGUHFUHDWLRQDODFWLYLW\
but they were not allowed by the Di.Coma.C. Many local volunteers tried to operate the same, including psychologists and young social workers with the authorization of local authorities, but they were progressively deprived of authority. This approach has led the same “foreign” organizations of volunteers together with the National Civil Defence to directly substitute local competences and responsibilities, instead of supporting and empowering them. From week to week, a Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: growing “army” of new volunteers strengthened the confusion of local L’Aquila post-quake situation
communities: every 15 days they leave tents for passing the baton to their incoming colleagues;; it seemed that the volunteers, coming from all over Italy and through the organizations of the various Regional Civil Protection, were all in the grip of a strange “contract fever” (Polman, SSZKLFKLQWKLVFRQWH[WFRXOGEHFDOOHGD³FHUWL¿FDWHVRI
attendance fever”. “Il Centro” a local daily newspaper showed that on 22 of August around a number of 100.300 volunteers from other regions RI ,WDO\ ZDV RSHUDWLQJ ZLWKLQ /¶$TXLOD HPHUJHQF\ WHUULWRU\ D ¿JXUH
that compared with the number of assisted people in the refugee camps (35.864), leaves still stunned. The historical centres where closed to their inhabitants. The strategy that the Di.Coma.C. decided to follow in order to monitor within the crater the permanent damages that all the buildings and the real estates could dramatically show after the earthquake, was entirely different from that adopted in Friuli by the army and the local administration. pag. 102
There, after the earthquake of 1976, the regional Register of Engineers and Architects ordered back to work (via an injunction) local technicians and ordered them to immediately come back in Friuli and provide an ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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RI¿FLDO VXUYH\ RI DOO WKH SHUPDQHQW GDPDJHV WKHUH ZHUH ,Q /¶$TXLOD
within this monitoring process, there was a good synergy between the hundreds of external engineers, architects and surveyors and some local SXEOLF RI¿FLDOV WKDW ZHUH ZRUNLQJ LQ /¶$TXLOD EXW LW ODFNHG D GLUHFW
and immediate involvement of the hundreds of local technicians that also wanted to give their contribution and that were excluded from this process.
Few months later, without any kind of participation or permission of L’Aquila inhabitants and of owners of the buildings, tens of external ¿UPVWRJHWKHUZLWKIHZORFDODQGLQÀXHQWHQWHUSULVHVKDGEHHQFKDUJHG
with making the downtown buildings safe and/or demolishing them. They suddenly operated as executing companies and were directly nominated by the extraordinary government of the National Civil Protection with WKHUDWL¿FDWLRQRIWKHORFDODGPLQLVWUDWLRQZLWKRXWIROORZLQJDQ\IRUPDO
procedure.
6HYHUDOFDVHVRIFRUUXSWLRQVZHUHGHWHFWHGWRJHWKHUZLWKVRPHLQ¿OWUDWLRQV
of criminal organizations and “cliques” (for a detailed list of crimes committed in this phase and during the emergency see the interesting book Cricca (clique) (FRQRP\,written by Bonaccorsi, Nalbone, Venti, 2009). Following the same top-down trajectory, one month after the earthquake a shelter strategy was decided: the so called “piano C.A.S.E.” As we have seen above, the “Piano C.A.S.E.” is a system of 184 “sustainable and eco-friendly” buildings that provided around 4.400 apartments at ¿UVWIRUMXVWDURXQGSHRSOH7KH\ZHUHORFDWHGLQQHZEXLOGLQJ
(country) areas without any respect of “genius loci”, of the landscape and the needs of the local population. These buildings have anti-seismic foundations, made with the 525cement that is usually used for dams and that are hypertrophic compared to the weight of the prefabricated they Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: support. In many cases, Piano C.A.S.E. buildings walls are constituted by L’Aquila post-quake situation
two layers of 20 cm. of Expanded PolyStyrene (EPS) linked each other WKURXJKDQHWZRUNFDUERQ¿EUHRUUDUHO\E\DFPFHPHQWFDVWLQJ
PDGH EHWZHHQ WKHP WKH ¿QDO UHVXOW LV D VFDUFH VROXWLRQ DW H[RUELWDQW
price (usually a prefabricate costs around 15.000 euros while in the Piano C.A.S.E. housing units cost around 20 times more with an average of 280.607 euros per unit, corresponding to 3.750 euros per square meter, cf. Alexander 2010a, p. 4). The cost of this shelter strategy is unbelievable if we compare it to the price for the reconstruction of the damaged real HVWDWHVWKDWZDV¿[HGDWDURXQGHXURVSHUVTXDUHPHWHU
The location of this new buildings has produced a huge consumption of agricultural land, that were expropriated and they result away from the original settlements, “the surface directly occupied by buildings is 63 ha, if we add free areas around the same, and the infrastructure needed to achieve them, we can almost triple the surface-the total amount of land consumed is around 200 ha- (cf. Paolella 2009). “
pag. 103
The management and the realization of this shelter strategy ruled out any possibility of integrating local forces within its process, and have been far from respecting the priority of the same earthquake survivors, ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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including, for example, to remain as close as possible to their damaged homes and to their jobs. This has induced a massive dependency on the private car for essential transport (cf. Alexander, 2012). Furthermore psychological disorders are also increasing among people that inhabit the piano C.A.S.E., as stated by Alexander (2012, p. 3):
“Government largess extended only to housing. Surveys conducted up to 20 months after the earthquake (Marincioni et al. 2012) showed that most of the ‘new towns’ and many of the prefab clusters were utterly devoid of essential VHUYLFHV LQFOXGLQJ ZDVWHZDWHU SXUL¿FDWLRQ « 0RUHRYHU SV\FKRORJLFDO
surveys of the plight of residents in the new complexes revealed that, at 26.5 per cent, post-traumatic stress disorder in women was twice as high as values encountered after other earthquakes. Social fragmentation was rife”.
7KHVHVWUDWHJLHVKDYHUHFRQ¿JXUHG/¶$TXLODWHUULWRU\PDNLQJLWDQHZ
city-territory which seems today to be the product of the dramatic logic of emergency.
In conclusion, the logic used to provide this shelter strategy it was the same logic applied by Italian Civil Protection in order to manage all the phases during emergency in L’Aquila territory, that were, summarizing: 1. evacuation of survivors;; 2. management of refugee camps;; 3. monitoring of building permanent damages and making them safe;; 4. provision of QRWWHPSRUDU\EXWWHPSRUDULO\XVHGVKHOWHUV.
,Q HDFK SKDVH ZH KDYH EULHÀ\ VHHQ KRZ GHFLVLRQ PDNHUV RSHUDWHG E\
adopting a top-down approach, that did not used a complex perspective without involving local know how and abilities. The emergency management policy was unequivocally of replacing the local response with a national one, without any attempt to empower local communities resilience and to harmonize, co-ordinate and support local Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: efforts: “the missing element in the Italian government’s recovery policy L’Aquila post-quake situation
is local participation” (cf. Alexander, 2010b, p. 336), but not only in the italian government, I suggest, it was instead a lack of accountability that generally belong to the overall process of local governance during emergency, within which also the local administration was involved. However, it was clear that the National Civil Protection Agency, serving the electoral goals of the national government, replaced participation with a great show violating every UN recommendations, and victims became mere spectators of the work carried out, rather than protagonists. Here I KDYHEULHÀ\JDWKHUHGWRJHWKHUWKRVHDERXWWKHHYDFXDWLRQRIVXUYLYRUV
that better show the discrepancies between UNDRO recommendations and civil protection operations. As stated by the UNDRO report: “The compulsory evacuation of disaster survivors can retard the recovery process and cause resentment. The voluntary movement of survivors, where their choice of venue and return is timed by their own needs, on the other hand can be a positive asset.” And again:
pag. 104
“it may increase the problems of distribution of relief supplies and services;; it reduces the possibility of families to salvage their belongings and to gather RIVISTA
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EXLOGLQJPDWHULDOVLWFUHDWHVDQDUWL¿FLDOQHHGIRUWHPSRUDU\VKHOWHULWUHGXFHV
the capacities of the surrounding communities to assist the survivors;; it retards reconstruction;; it retards psychological recovery of the survivors by introducing additional stress: family separation and an unfamiliar environment”(UNDRO, 1982, p. 22).
Thus, mainstream media have uncritically accompanied this political strategy and it would be incorrect analyzing the strategy of emergency after the earthquake in L’Aquila, without considering the role played by the main stream media. After L’Aquila disaster, the main stream communication played a crucial role for different reasons. The FRPPXQLFDWLRQRIRI¿FLDOFKDQQHOVZDVWRR³WKHRU\ODGHQ´DQGLQÀXHQFHG
by strategic marketing techniques through which “selling” the work of civil protection. There were therefore two different directions to which PDLQVWUHDPFRPPXQLFDWLRQKDYHUHGXFHGDQGVLPSOL¿HGWKHFRPSOH[LW\
of L’Aquila post-quake situation:
• the need to command and control the emergency;;
• the political debate.
First, mainstream media have cooperated to build the myth of command and control system by framing and making a spectacular of the panic and of the shock of survivors, so to represent them as vulnerable and needy, rather than “respecting the feelings of people” as other alternative sources of information on the web have done. They used an irritating emphasis on some bad human behaviours and some bad example of “jackals”: notwithstanding they were a small number comparing to those extraordinary examples of solidarity. This approach was useful to feed panic, mistrust and other negative feelings that induce local people forgetting solidarity. These two myths of “vulnerable and needy people” and of “jackals” built up by main stream media representations and Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: narrations were not politically neutral. L’Aquila post-quake situation
As Clarke notes (2003, p. 5): “ disaster myths are not politically neutral, but rather work systematically to the advantage of elites. Elites cling to the panic myth because to acknowledge the truth of the situation would lead to very different policy prescriptions than the ones presently in vogue”. And again, as stated by Kathleen Tierney and reported by Clarke:
“The chief prescription is, she notes, that the best way to prepare for disasters is by following the command and control model (...). Thus do panic myths reinforce particular institutional interests. But it is not bureaucrats who will EHWKH¿UVWUHVSRQGHUVZKHQWKHQH[WGLVDVWHUZKHWKHUEURXJKWE\WHUURULVWVRU
VRPHRWKHUDJHQWFRPHV,WZRQ¶WHYHQEHWKHSROLFHRU¿UH¿JKWHUV,WZLOOEHRXU
neighbors, it will be the strangers in the next car, it will be our family members. The effectiveness of disaster response is thus diminished to the degree that we over-rely on command and control. This is another case where political ideology WUXPSVJRRGVFLHQWL¿FNQRZOHGJHDERXWKRZWKHZRUOGZRUNV´&ODUNHS
5;; cf. Solnit, 2009;; p. 184).
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Second, mainstream media (both the left and the right party) have contributed to transform L’Aquila emergency into a political ring where it was possible to use the tragedy of thousands persons for private electoral goals. Mainstream media belonging to the right wing have celebrated the heroism of National Civil Protection and of the italian government;; the opposite media communication belonging to the left wing tried to reduce WKHGLI¿FXOWLHVRIORFDOVXUYLYRUVWRWKHXVXDOUKHWRULFDJDLQVWWKHSULPH
minister.
While all these two features have been widely discussed, I would like to focus on an aspect of mainstream communication during emergency that is still underestimated: the methodology directly used by that National Civil Protection (NCP) during emergency (WHOHWH[WVLQRUGHUWRLQÀXHQFH
mainstream media communication. The ideology behind this strategy was publicly declared in the method “Augustus”.
These WHOHWH[WV diffused by national media were exactly what the NCP wanted to let know to people, the media simply reported the information, without a critical elaboration of the contents. It is interesting to note that WKHUH ZDV QR GLIIHUHQFH DW OHDVW LQ WKH ¿UVW PRQWKV DIWHU WKH GLVDVWHU
between the communication provided by the NCP and the communication provided by most of the national media. The “logic of emergency”, as the same report Augustus states, does not allow any critical mediation the journalist may provide:
7KXVD¿UVWVPDOOVWHSZDVPDGHE\WKH1DWLRQDO)HGHUDWLRQRIWKH,WDOLDQ3UHVV
(FNSI, the journalists’ sindacate), with the activation in the early months of 1999 of refresher courses for journalists, about the information of emergency. These seminars have seen the full involvement of the Department of Civil Protection, WKHVFLHQWL¿FFRPPXQLW\DQGWKHIRUFHVWKDWVKDSHWKH1DWLRQDO6HUYLFHRI&LYLO
Protection Agency. (...) And, it must be said, consideration signals begin to arrive in a concrete way. For example, Mediaset has made available, as totally free of charge, some pages of their own Teletext with the objective of making prevention offering their complete willingness (as it has been demonstrated during this emergency -L’Aquila, author’s note-.) to an immediate and well LGHQWL¿DEOHLQIRUPDWLRQEH\RQGWKHRUGLQDU\DGPLQLVWUDWLRQ
All this, with a great spirit of service - because this is a service to the public - ZLWKRXWDQ\³PHGLDWLRQ´WRJLYHWRWKHLQVWLWXWLRQRUWRWKHVFLHQWL¿FFRPPXQLW\
the possibility to provide their messages with clarity and precision. A useful WRRO IRU PDQ\ MRXUQDOLVWV ZKRVH GLI¿FXOWLHV LQ H[SODLQLQJ WKH IDFWV EH\RQG
the premises already made - also comes from ignoring the fundamentals of a seismic, volcanic, or hydrogeological risk. Informing quickly and well, then: this does not mean, let it be clear, to be deprived by the journalist’s right and duty to criticize the institutions when things do not go the way we want to them, or to timely and carefully push for something that, perhaps, is not yet done or it has been done not in an accomplished way. Far from it. But there is the moment of critiques (if necessary) and there is the moment in which the citizen need a certain type of information that is not “journalistically mediated”, or that, however, it is little mediated. Resist, in short, the temptation to bombastic Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: L’Aquila post-quake situation
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DUWLFOHVDQGDEVROXWHO\VFLHQWL¿FDOO\LQDFFXUDWHZKHUHSUHYDLOVWKHHIIHFWUDWKHU
than the substance of things”. ( cf. Farneti Comunicare in tempo di crisi, in AA.VV. “Metodo Augustus”, http://www.ispro.it/wiki/images/9/95/Metodo_
Augustus.pdf)
Furthermore, what civil protection declares about the main goals of communication during emergency, is that:
“The population, once reassured about that those who have to work are working, and once warned about the real dynamics of what is happening, being however inserted in an emergency situation, instinctively feels that it can not continue to behave as if nothing had happened. Hence they show the tendency to put into practice different behaviours, often naively considered correct and appropriate to the new situation but, in most cases, abnormal and in contrast with what is useful and necessary. Therefore a further motivation for communication stands out: to canalize and standardize the survivors behaviour by assigning directives, establishing prohibitions, providing advices. Communicating in order to give direction, to obtain survivors coordinated behaviours, in order to minimize the negative effects of personal and spontaneous initiatives. “ (AA.
VV. Comunicazione in stato di crisi, -Perchè Comunicare- in Metodo Augustus, http://www.ispro.it/wiki/images/9/95/Metodo_Augustus.pdf)
$VZHFDQUHDGIURPWKHPHWKRG$XJXVWXVWKH1&3RI¿FLDOSURJUDP
that instructs how to work during an event, decision-makers in L’Aquila KDYHQRLGHDRIWKHSDUDGLVHZHKDYHGHVFULEHGLQWKH¿UVWSDJHVDQGDFW
as a proper +HOO$UP\. In fact they state that:
The population feels always involved during crisis, both emotionally (fear of being touched by the events, take part in the problems of those involved), both physically (if not damaged, however, is forced to endure hardships). This forced “participation” is associated mainly with feelings of loss and helplessness. Few are able to independently develop strategies for emergency response and the majority is often turn up inside between the risk of an hysterical panic and an anxious search for help, feedback and some points of UHIHUHQFH ,I LWV LQVWLWXWLRQDO FRXQWHUSDUW ZLOO EH VXI¿FLHQWO\ DXWKRULWDWLYH DQG
determined, the majority of people will be willing to abdicate their decision-
making autonomy, to undergo privations and restrictions, “becoming obedient” to the guidelines. (AA.VV.Comunicazione in stato di crisi, -Cosa Comunicare, in“MetodoAugustus”http://www.ispro.it/wiki/images/9/95/Metodo_Augustus.
pdf)
The result was that on 22th of October 2012 a group of seven people, DOO PHPEHUV RI DQ RI¿FLDO ERG\ FDOOHG WKH ³1DWLRQDO &RPPLVVLRQ IRU
the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks” (one of them director of WKH&LYLOSURWHFWLRQ$JHQF\¶VHDUWKTXDNHULVNRI¿FHDQGDQRWKHUIRUPHU
vice-president of Civil Protection Agency’s technical department), have been found guilty of negligence and malpractice in their evaluation of the danger of the earthquake and in their duty to keep the communities Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: L’Aquila post-quake situation
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informed of the risks, and have been sentenced to six years in prison over the 2009 deadly earthquake in L’Aquila.
As we will see below, spontaneity rather than be “problematic” and ³DEQRUPDO´ KDV UHYHDOHG WR EH PRUH HI¿FLHQW WKDQ DQ\ RWKHU PRUH
structured intervention. In fact, after a disaster the panic belong more to the elites rather than to survivors. Quarantelli, one of the most important sociologist of disasters, interviewed by Rebecca Solnit in 2007 said: “I wrote a master thesis on panic and I was waiting for several examples of it, but after a bit I realized: Oh my god, I am trying to write a thesis on SDQLFDQG,FDQQRW¿QGDQ\FRQFUHWHH[DPSOHRILWFI6ROQLWS
123)” Then he adds: If by panic one means people being very frightened, that probably is a very correct perception about what occur at a time of a disaster. On the other hand it doesn’t mean that if people are frigthened, they can not act appropriately. (…) Instead of ruthless competition, the social order did not break down and FRRSHUDWLYHUDWKHUWKDQVHO¿VKEHKDYLRXUSUHGRPLQDWLQJFI6ROQLWSS
123-124). 7KXVZKDWLVXSWRXVLVOHWWLQJWRHPHUJHZLWKLQWKHVFLHQWL¿FGLVFRXUVH
on L’Aquila 2009 earthquake, that concrete feeling that arose among survivors and that showed the extraordinary abilities of the survived communities in facing the emergency by empathy and cooperation, building examples of aftershock economy.
I will also focus on the positive role the Internet played in empowering this altruistic behaviours, allowing the arise of the aftershock communication, the semiotic sphere that supported that concrete paradise where people self-organize themselves so to better face the tragedy. Faraway from any techno-enthusiastic vision my research will show that the Internet played Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: GLIIHUHQW UROHV IRU WKHVH FRPPXQLWLHV DFFRUGLQJ WR WKHLU RZQ VSHFL¿F
needs and contingencies depending by the nature of every single case I analysed and the nature of the relationships they had and they built through the Internet.
Paraphrasing what Calvino wrote, the hell is already here. There are two ways to escape suffering it. As researchers, maybe what is up to us is to seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of hell, are not hell, then make them endure, give them space.
Aftershock economy in L’Aquila emergency phase
The continuous earthquakes, the deaths, the loss of properties and the disheartening landscape of destruction and rubbles induced people of the crater, in re-discovering the personal pronoun “we”. Unexpected moments of sharing between people, aware of their equal status of earthquake victims, have spontaneously emerged. What Carlo told me is very important to understand how people felt during that emergency times, following the interview I have already ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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reported in page two:
,W LV LQ WKLV GLI¿FXOW PRPHQWV WKDW WKH IRUFH RI QDWXUH WKH ³YLV PHGLFDWUL[
naturae” has allowed us to face all those enormous disadvantages that in only thirty seconds an earthquake could cause: you discover yourself completely naked in front of it, you realize that you do not have anything and that you are MXVW³PDQXUHIRUÀRZHUV´1RWZLWKVWDQGLQJWKHQHJDWLYLW\RIVRUURZVWKLVKDV
been alleviated, I do not want to say that has been deleted, by the solidarity that spontaneously has grew up among us in that moments: the fact to experience the same tragedy and a common dramatic condition, had made the human being more near to the suffering of other human beings and this has fed the spirit of serenity among all of us.
As Andrea Spila wrote in the appendix of the italian version of Solnit’s book:
“immediately after the quakes, along the devastation’s wake, citizens have promptly reacted to the emergency, climbing on the ruins and digging through the rubble in search of missing people, reaching the unsafe wards of the hospital in order to help in evacuating it (...) those people felt in love with their new public and civil role, letting the magic to capture them, a magic in which the commitment, improvisation and empathy spontaneously occur together- “(Spila, 2009: 438). What Spila described were unbelievable initiatives made in L’Aquila during the emergency by individuals that immediately reacts to the tragedy through altruistic behaviours, giving their own extraordinary contribution. Therefore he takes into analysis some examples of self-
organized voluntary works put in action by activists and cultural Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: associations in order to keep in safe animals between the rubble, re-
launch the University activities, organize a bus as a common library within a refugee camp or recreational activities within several camps, teach italian to immigrants and help them in defending their rights. But there was more, and it was not linked to cultural or volunteer associations: entire communities could survive building concrete example of DIWHUVKRFN HFRQRP\ by putting their resources in common and satisfying primary needs for all the members of the survived communities. This organization occurred specially in the countryside, ZLWKLQ OLWWOH YLOODJHV DQG IDUDZD\ DQ\ SROLWLFDO DI¿OLDWLRQ RU SUHYLRXV
commitment. Many communities in the countryside of the “crater” began immediately to share their food stocks. People suddenly started to share what they had inside their pantries building common kitchens and starting to self-
organize themselves with an enthusiasm and a sense of community that was entirely new for many communities: away from the same habits, and pag. 109
the TV afternoon talk-show whose vision often closed off people inside their homes. There were several villages without the support of National Civil ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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Protection that were able to organize themselves for weeks within barns WKDWOXFNO\UHPDLQLQWDFWRULQWKH¿UVWWHQWVSURYLGHGE\WKHDUP\7KLV
happened, for example, in many little villages such as San Giovanni, Barisciano, San Nicandro, Carapelle, Tussio, Capestrano, Villa Santa Lucia and in many other little villages around L’Aquila. San Giovanni is one of these. It is a little village near San Demetrio at no more than 20 kms from L’Aquila. I met there Sergio Marrone, one of the protagonists of the extraordinary self-organization that people of San Giovanni have put in action in order to better face the disadvantages created by the earthquake. He told me: Everything started in a very simple way. The early morning of the 6th of April 2009 we meet each other and we realized what has happened around us. We WKHQZRQGHUHGZKDWZHVKRXOGGRZHORRNHGDURXQGDQGZHVDLGWKDWWKH¿UVW
stuff to do was to organize a common place were to give a refuge to children and elderlies (some of them with also ambulation problems) and prepare the breakfast for all. (…) Thus we chose a vegetable garden near by here, where there was a pigpen (Fig. 1) that we suddenly reclaimed so to transform it in a canteen where to cook. We built up there a common kitchen, asking: who has the gas cylinder?who has the gas cooker? We started with this basic stuff and WKH¿UVWGD\VZHSXWLQFRPPRQWKHIRRGVWRFNVWKDWZHKDGLQRXUKRPHVZH
emptied the freezers and the fridges the cellars and we ate together what we could collect from our houses. We slept inside our cars for two nights waiting the tends that the civil protection provided us three days after the earthquake. We took out all the stuff that could be necessary for our needs, we put in common tables, chairs, pots and dishes as properly an enlarged family. Solidarity from relatives, friends and people hailing from San Giovanni that were living in other cities around Italy was extraordinary too. What Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: Sergio Marrone’s wife added during the interview shows that this could L’Aquila post-quake situation
allow their community to autonomously organize themselves for over two months without any structural intervention of civil protection:
“some friends from Ascoli Piceno collected money and with these money they bought two big new fridges, a frezeer (Fig. 1) and three washing machines that we put in common (Fig. 2) so to better collect food to refrigerate and to organize a place near the fountain were people of our community could had the possibility to wash their dresses. Then there was a man that came from Rome and seeing us in that conditions brought us two big gas cylinder”.
And this solidarity from unknown people struck people of San Giovanni and reinforced their resilience and their awareness about the possibility WREHVHOIVXI¿FLHQW,QIDFW6HUJLRWROGPHUHIHUULQJWRWKRVHIULHQGVWKDW
helped them during that days:
We have to say that a lot of people hailing from our village helped us, but also SHRSOHZLWKZKRPZHGLGQRWKDYHWRRPXFKFRQ¿GHQFHJDYHXVWKHLUVROLGDULW\
in an unexpected way coming to us and asking what it could be useful for us in ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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that moment and satisfying it with great sense of open-heartedness. 7KHVHDUHWKLQJVWKDWVWULNH\RXEHFDXVH\RXFDQIHHOSUHFLVHO\LQWKDWGLI¿FXOW
moments, the solidarity from other people. Then, concerning instead our LQWHUQDORUJDQL]DWLRQZHKDYHEHQH¿WHGMXVWRIWKHEDUHPLQLPXPIURPWKHFLYLO
protection for what regarded tends and foods. For the rest we were every inch VHOIVXI¿FLHQW
And effectively they did something that surprised me:
The civil protection gave us tends putting them on a bad ground that when it was raining it completely became mud living us into the sludge. In three days DURXQGWKH¿UVWRI0D\ZHKDYHPRYHGWKHPDQGUHSODFHGWKHPRQDQRWKHU¿HOG
terracing it and making it porous with gravel (Fig. 3). We then built a wooden enclosure around our camp for preserving us from animals. Then before having the toilets that the civil protection provided us later, my sons built a shower with hot water. They took a big tub full of water and they put it on a gas cooker so to let the water getting hot as an handmade cauldron;; then, with a pump connected to a tube we took water and we brought it inside a tend where there was another tub within which people, children and elderlies could take a shower. Near by it we put some bathrobes. Four days after the earthquake this self-made shower system was already operative (Fig. 4).
And the solidarity from friends and relatives outside did not stop, and it VKRZHGWREHPRUHHI¿FLHQWWKHQWKHRI¿FLDOVXSSRUWSURYLGHGE\WKHFLYLO
protection or the Red Cross: “after one month the brother of a woman of our community donated us a kitchen, another a kitchen sink, another gave his technical contribution to repair washing machines, and so on”. Also within the community it was showed a great organizational skill that could operate without any structured support from ‘outside’: “we Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: established shifts for cooking, washing dishes and so on”. L’Aquila post-quake situation
What has emerged from these interviews is that an extraordinary grassroots economy arose among the members of the San Giovanni community where the “private interest was put in the background” and it was established a “perfect mechanism” within which “there was no one that had more than another, and every one put in common what he had at his disposal that could be helpful to others without asking money”. The luck was that within members of San Giovanni community someone was able to work the wood, iron and building materials, each of them still has his own commercial activity, but notwithstanding that, everyone put their resources in common without asking nothing in exchange for it: “what there was, it was put at disposal of everyone, nothing was done with a by-
end. In that circumstance alone you cannot go on”. “There was” – Sergio continues- :
“an unbelievable cooperation, among us. We had a good relationships with the civil protection: they always have been our own guest. They often come to us having dinner with us, and we cooked for them with pleasure. But when I went to those camps managed by the civil protection, I realized that the situation pag. 111
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Fig. 1 The pigpen with one of the new fridges
Fig.2 The washing machines
Fig. 4 San Giovanni community resilience at work
Fig. 3 The shower
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there, was completely different. There was no cooperation, and people were more inactive.” Sergio underlined that what he did not approve in that days, was: the military management of the refugee camps, because you were forced to be as in a barrack. Among refugees there were people that maybe had a different idea DERXWKRZWRRSHUDWHDQGEHKDYHLQVSHFL¿FFLUFXPVWDQFHVLQVLGHWKHFDPSEXW
there were a lot of people that put over all the command and the need to manage everything, so to exclude the same refugees to cooperate”. “If in the kitchen of the camp, for example, there were 20 people of the NCP, it was not possible for you to give an help in kitchen even if you would like to do it. The problem was that there were to many volunteers from outside.” the son of Sergio said to me, better specifying what told me his father. One thing to underline was the atmosphere created by this little community within their own self-managed camp: “it was an atmosphere of cooperation, of candor, of naturalness. We became a huge family and since then, we strengthen our relationships sharing troubles as well as positive things. After three years we did not lost this treasure, we still meet each other, passing Christmas and the end of the year all together”.
The same thing also happened in San Nicandro, my native little village, a little hamlet of Prata D’Ansidonia, not too much distant from San Giovanni and at no more than 25 kms from L’Aquila. I have already wrote what Carlo Daniele, deputy mayor, told me about the empathy that grew up among people of our community (see pp. 2 & 12). The problem Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: in San Nicandro was that there was not the possibility to move in Prata L’Aquila post-quake situation
D’Ansidonia refugee camp that was managed by the civil protection because of the presence within the community of many elderlies that were unable to move there. We had the luck to have at our disposal a barn of 600 mq where we organized the kitchen and the dormitory and an old school that we used as a storage. The italian army provided us three tents in which slept around 50 people, most of them were youngsters and adults, while the elderlies and the rest of people have found refuge within the barn. Thus considering the major’s decree that impose us to leave RXU SULYDWH KRPHV XQWLO WKHLU IXOO RU SDUWLDO UHVWRUDWLRQ DQG WKH RI¿FLDO
delivering of a GRFXPHQW VWDWLQJ WKDW D SURSHUW\ ZDV ¿W IRU KDELWDWLRQ
ZH UHDOL]HG D UHIXJHH FDPS LQ D¿HOG QHDU WKH EDUQ 7DONLQJ DERXW WKH
organization of this camp, Carlo said to me: ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
We used this structure not only to welcome people of our community, but also people coming from Prata D’Ansidonia, Barisciano, San Demetrio, L’Aquila, Ripa Fagnano: in the aggregate we were a number of around 250 people. Within WKHEDUQZHFRXOGRUJDQL]HDUHIHFWRU\WRJHWKHUZLWKDGRUPLWRU\ZKHUHWKH¿UVW
weeks slept around 200 people. However many people remained to sleep in their pag. 113
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cars for several days. The refectory was realized thanks to Fioravanti’s family that before the earthquake had a dining hall that has been completely destroyed by the seism: having lost their commercial activity, they decided to help their community by cooking every day for an average of more than 100 people. We established shifts for washing dishes and doing the waiters, we organized the JUHHQDUHDVDURXQGZLWKÀRZHUVWROHWWKHPEHLQJPRUHFRPIRUWDEOHWRXVZHGLG
not lack the multi-media support organizing our communication and recreational DFWLYLWLHVZLWKLQWKHEDUQ$OOWKHVHWKLQJVZHUHPDGHWU\LQJWRDOOHYLDWHGLI¿FXOW
situations: consider that someone among us unfortunately had their dears that died under the ruins, thus there was solidarity but there was also the sorrow. (...)
The positive stuff of all this was that a spirit of conviviality remained among most of us: after the earthquakewe meet each other with pleasure to talk about our troubles.
And what we learned about San Giovanni we discover that has been very important for the San Nicandro community survival too: people suddenly have put in common the resources they had in their cellars where they were not destroyed by the earthquake: among most of the people of our village there was the willingness to share foods they had in their homes such as cheese, tomatoes, oil, hams and so on (…). We asked to be independent from the civil protection having the possibility to use these available structures: elderlies do not want to leave their own homes, even if destroyed every day they went back to them feeding their chickens so to do not leave their reign. We remained autonomous from the civil protection. The civil protection just helped us for the organization of the tents -their tents arrived around one month after the earthquake, without them we slept into those SURYLGHGE\WKHDUP\XQWLODURXQGWKH¿UVWKDOIRI0D\DQGRIWKHEDWKURRPVLQ
a very little part it helped us with foods and other goods, because we received a lot of donation from friends and independent associations of volunteers that did not belong to civil protection but that came to us before any structured support providing us water, cheese in great quantities, pasta and so on.
During the talk I had with Carlo, he revealed to me something that I did not know and that surprised me providing evidence for this emerging DIWHUVKRFNHFRQRP\ that allowed people to better autonomously survive within the emergency. Within other things he said he told me also that they organized a form of barter with the camp of San Pio delle Camere answering to a vital need someone of San Nicandro community had in that days, some people after the earthquake having their home seriously damaged went out in pyjama and could not come back to take back their dresses:
“Some people did not have dresses, thus we organized an exchange between us and the camp of San Pio delle Camere: they give us shoes and dresses and we give them cheese and detergents”.
In other camps managed by NCP this extraordinary action of solidarity Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: L’Aquila post-quake situation
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between different camps were rarer or completely absent. Carlo told me:
In all these things, as I said before, the civil protection was not managing our camp and I have to say Thank God! I mean, we were lucky that civil protection JLYHXVWKHRSSRUWXQLW\WREHIUHHDQGWKLVDOORZHGXVWR¿QGLQVLGHRXUVHOIWKH
will to rise again and react without anyone that pushed us and this could give us the possibility to mature the spirit of being born again”.
National Civil Protection gave its important contribution by providing in a week tents for over 30.000 refugees, but suddenly became too much repressive organization. On the contrary, the FRPPXQLW\ UHVLOLHQFH of those villages that I took in analysis, have showed to have the strength even of overturning the roles by welcoming civil protection to their own camp. We have discussed it about San Giovanni, but this also happened in San Nicandro barn, and in Tussio. Tussio is another little hamlet near by Prata D’Ansidonia and people after the earthquake started to self-organize their camp with the same solidarity and through the same altruistic behaviours we met for the other two villages. I interviewed the chief of Tussio refugee camp Gildo De Rubeis that explained to me what exactly happened that night after the earthquake in Tussio: After the earthquake we meet each other in the farmyard of our village. We face up to each other, and, because of there was not the civil protection, people asked me to become the chief of the camp and suddenly we chose a little garage near by a roost (Fig.5) and we organized there a common kitchen and a “dining room” )LJ7KDQNVWRWKHH[WUDRUGLQDU\VROLGDULW\WKHUHZDVDPRQJXVWKH¿UVWGD\V
we passed the hat and we went to make the grocery shopping, so to cook for our elderlies (between them there was Pietta who was 105 years old -now she is 108- and has become the symbol of our village): we thus cooked within that garage near the roost and between chickens and roosters. After three days the FLYLOSURWHFWLRQDUULYHGDQGFRQ¿UPHGPHDVWKHFKLHIRIWKHFDPSDQGEHJXQWR
provide us foods, we therefore established shifts for cooking and everyday we prepared there breakfast, lunch and dinner for everyone. We live there in full KDUPRQ\XQWLOZKHQWKHK\JLHQHRI¿FHRI/¶$TXLODDUULYHGDQGWROGXVWKDWZDV
impossible cooking near by a roost, thus we move to a barn that lucky remained intact and there was who cooked, who washed dishes, who provided foods and medicines going to take them in the surrounding areas The fact that among us there were very good cookers has induced all the staff of civil protection, of the LWDOLDQDUP\RURIWKH¿UHGHSDUWPHQWWKDWZHUHRSHUDWLQJDURXQGHYHU\GD\FDPH
to us to eat: everyday we had 20-30 persons more. Until August 2009 we cooked everyday for an average of 130 people.
One thing that struck me were the words of Gildo’s wife that adds:
One beautiful thing I remember of that days was the being together inside the tent. The evening we went to bed together, we talked we laughed and we thought that when we had to come back home we would miss these beautiful tents, these beautiful little tales, this laughing, this being together. In fact it exactly happened Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: L’Aquila post-quake situation
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that to me, and the same happened to many friends of mine: as soon as we left tents and we came back home we felt alone and thus there was this memory of Fig. 5 The roost
Fig. 6 the common “dining room”
being together that still is a beautiful thing.
The DIWHUVKRFNHFRQRP\, thus, appears to arise during emergency as a “normal” and an “expected” grassroots economy based on empathy and on the re-discovering of the meaning of “being together”(these are the ontological and the epistemological premise of aftershock economy): “you discover yourself more brother” said Carlo;; “being together encourage you, and help you to overcome the sorrow”said Marco Marrone. Within L’Aquila emergency territory and the villages around hundreds of examples could provide even more evidence for the arising of this concrete paradise. Why focusing only on panic and jackals?
The wide spread of associations and the role of the Internet: the Aftershock Communication in L’Aquila emergency territory, a brief overview.
Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: L’Aquila territory never had a strong tradition of cooperation as other L’Aquila post-quake situation
italian regions have, such as Lazio, Emilia Romagna or Friuli for example, neither as the others capital provinces of Abruzzo. Notwithstanding this, after the earthquake another data could test the Aquilani FRPPXQLW\
resilience WKH LPSUHVVLYH ZLGH VSUHDG RI QRQSUR¿W RUJDQL]DWLRQV
committees, groups throughout the whole L’Aquila emergency territory. &RQFHUQLQJ WKH QRQSUR¿W RUJDQL]DWLRQV D PHDQLQJIXOO\ LQFUHDVLQJ LV
UHJLVWHUHGZKLOHIURPWRWKHDYHUDJHRIQRQSUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQ
WKDWZHUHERUQLQ/¶$TXLODSURYLQFHDQGWKDWZHUHRI¿FLDOO\UHJLVWHUHGWR
the Italian Income Revenue Authority was around 9 per year representing DURXQG WKH RI DOO WKH QRQSUR¿W RUJDQL]DWLRQ WKDW ZHUH ERUQ LQ
Abruzzo during that period, after the earthquake this average per year has PRUHWKDQGRXEOHG,QWKHRYHUDOOSURYLQFHRI/¶$TXLODWKRVHQRQSUR¿W
RUJDQL]DWLRQWKDWZHUHERUQIURPXQWLOQRZIRUWKHVSHFL¿FSXUSRVH
WRIDFHGLVDGYDQWDJHVDQGGLI¿FXOWLHVWKDWZHUHFDXVHGE\WKHHDUWKTXDNH
are a number of 66 so distributed per year: 26 in 2009;; 19 in 2010;; 9 in pag. 116
DQGLQUHDFKLQJDQDYHUDJHRIDURXQGQRQSUR¿W
RUJDQL]DWLRQ SHU \HDU 7KLV FRQFHUQLQJ WKRVH VSHFL¿FDOO\ RUJDQL]HG
around purposes directly linked with the earthquake, while the number ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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IXUWKHUDXJPHQWVLIZHFRQVLGHUDOOWKHQRQSUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQVWKDWZHUH
born from 2009 until now in L’Aquila province: 31 in 2009;; 23 in 2010;; 15 in 2011;; 18 in 2012, reaching an average of around 22 (21.75) per \HDUDQGPHDQLQJIXOO\UHSUHVHQWLQJDURXQGWKHRIDOOWKHQRQSUR¿W
RUJDQL]DWLRQVERUQLQWKH$EUX]]RUHJLRQDQGRI¿FLDOO\UHJLVWHUHGWRWKH
LWDOLDQLQFRPHUHYHQXHDXWKRULW\VKRZLQJDVLJQL¿FDQWLQFUHDVLQJRIWKH
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earthquake. 7KHVH GDWD DUH RQO\ FRQFHUQLQJ QRQSUR¿W RUJDQL]DWLRQV RI¿FLDOO\
registered in the Italian Income Revenue Agency and with a proper LQWHUQDO RUJDQL]DWLRQ WKDW LQ ,WDO\ LV FDOOHG 21/86 QRQSUR¿W
RUJDQL]DWLRQIRUKHOSIXOVRFLDODFWLYLWLHVZKLOHLIZHDQDO\VHDOOWKH¿VFDO
codes emitted by the local government of the national income revenue agency to legal personalities composed at least by three members, data DUHHYHQPRUHLPSUHVVLYH)URPDQDYHUDJHRI¿VFDOFRGHVSHU\HDU
that were assigned to legal personalities from 2006 until 2009 for a total number of 720 social organizations, from 2010 to 2012 the total number RIDVVLJQHG¿VFDOFRGHVEHFRPHVLPSUHVVLYHDWQRZWKHUHDUH¿VFDO
codes that have been assigned by the local government of the national income revenue agency to social organizations that were born in L’Aquila province and that are composed at least by three people that decided to cooperate and formally become a committee or a cultural association or DOLWWOHQRQSUR¿WFRPSDQ\RUDFRQVRUWLXPRILQKDELWDQWVDOOIRUPVRI
social organizations that do not pay taxes. They are so distributed per year: 207 in 2010;; 725 in 2011;; 1101 in 2012 with an average of around 678 legal personalities per year only in L’Aquila province, showing an increasing of around 182% plus of social organizations after the earthquake in L’Aquila emergency territory. Among them, we should not forget that there are, especially in 2012 Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: an arising number of inhabitants consortia that have been constituted L’Aquila post-quake situation
according to the legal obligations provided in order to regulate the process of reconstruction of L’Aquila territory. As consortia of the owners of the damaged houses in the city centres of L’Aquila territory, they represent, and they should be considered by decision makers so, the main protagonists and social actors of the reconstruction of their own houses. However among this great number of social organizations the main social risk still is the social fragmentation and what it still lacks is a comprehensive and strategic common vision that could allow WKHPWR¿QGDFRPPRQKRUL]RQWRZDUGVZKLFKRULHQWWKHLUHIIRUWVIRUD
sustainable reconstruction understood as a sustainable rural development of the whole emergency territory of L’Aquila and of the overall historical city centres within it.
However, what emerges from these data and what is also showed by a previous internal report done by local Service Centre for Volunteers (CSV, 2010) is that after the earthquake a consistent increasing of committees, pag. 117
FXOWXUDO DVVRFLDWLRQV QRQSUR¿W RUJDQL]DWLRQV LQIRUPDO JURXSV DQG VR
on, could be easily detectable showing that people from L’Aquila “felt the need to be the protagonists of the reconstruction of their own city, ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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so to give their contribution to the cultural and the social renaissance of the whole struck territory”. Through the reading of the articles of association of the several of formal and informal social organizations that were studied by CSV, and from interviews they made by telephone, it emerged that “the objectives and the main purposes of the new social organizations have, as their inspiring principle, the willingness to “participate” and “inform” all the citizens about the activities that are linked to the reconstruction of the city and of the little villages around”.
The need to exist as social groups reveals an alternative vision of emergency management (more cooperative, more participated) but also a new communicative perspective. The latter aspect of this general bottom-up claim has let emerging what I have called the aftershock communication. In short, aftershock communication is the occurrence of self organized communicative forms of communication generated by the resilience of a survived population. The survived communities react to the shock caused by the natural disaster and the media-shock caused by a careless “shock communication” that come abreast through the uncritical production of “teletexts”. This bottom-up communication may allow the “reality” (directly hit by the tragedy) to do its own speeches. I summarized this emergent communicative reality, in a formula: GRQ¶WWDONDERXWUHDOLW\EXWOHWWKH
UHDOLW\ WDON (Imperiale, 2010). This kind of communication could be interpreted as the witness of KRZWKHHPHUJHQF\VSDFHLVGLUHFWO\OLYHG by the survived community. This “aftershock communic/action” in L’Aquila, developed mainly thanks to the Internet and it was made through self-
PDQDJHGDQGVHOIPDGHZHEVLWHVDQGEORJVDQGVRFLDOPHGLDSUR¿OHVWKDW
ZHUHFUHDWHGGLUHFWO\E\ORFDOVXUYLYHGFRPPXQLWLHVDQGWKHLUQRQSUR¿W
organizations spread through out the emergency territory. They helped the world -out of the emergency- to develop a conscious and a critical Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: judgement about the emergency situation, prompting a concrete national L’Aquila post-quake situation
and international independent and not structured solidarity, that as we KDYHVHHQZDVPRUHHI¿FLHQWLQWKH¿UVWGD\VWKDQWKHVWUXFWXUHGRQH
In L’Aquila after the earthquake, as also stated by the CSV report (2010), the Internet and the new media have had “a key and inescapable importance”, also due the diaspora and the social fragmentation people had to live. The Internet became fundamental for local survivors and those that were strictly linked to them, in order to reach more truthful informations that were not distorted by the main stream propaganda. It also became a fundamental instrument to monitor the seismic activities E\ VXU¿QJ RQ WKH ,1*9 RI¿FLDO ZHEVLWH DQG DFWLYHO\ FRPSDULQJ WKRVH
informations also through alternative websites that in that time were monitoring the same events.
In this context the wireless infrastructure has showed to be more reliable than the wired one: what told me by Fabrizio Fiore Donati, one of the main responsible of Air2Bite is that “after the earthquake, the more demand pag. 118
has derived from companies due to the problems they had with cable operators (see collapsed telephone exchanges or the injunction made by the national civil protection) (...)”. The increasing of the WI-FI services ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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distribution within the whole area of the crater shows a meaningfully increasing of the demand of connectivity that has been generated by SHRSOH DIWHU WKH HDUWKTXDNH7KHVH GDWD UHÀHFWV WKH JHQHUDO SHUFHSWLRQ
there is within L’Aquila territory, about an unbelievable augment of connectivity, due to the social needs linked to the emergency. In the area of the crater the wireless connection is provided by two main private companies: the Air2Bite and the ZeroCould. Concerning the increasing of users, Air2Bite told me that from a number of about 1000, the users became 5000 after the earthquake. 5REHUWR &RVWDQWLQL RI =HUR&RXOG KDV FRQ¿UPHG WKDW WKH JHQHUDO
percentage of the increasing demand (beyond the ordinary trend of growth) is about 20%. It is interesting that local administrations and social organizations represent just the 12% of this increasing percentage. As stated by Lorenzo Fanale that I interviewed in order to better describe &DVWHOQXRYRQRQSUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQDQGLWVVHOIRUJDQL]HGZHEVLWHWKH
Internet, during the emergency, was a fundamental source of information and it answered to a generalized need of alternative and ever updated contents: there has been a big change among L’Aquila inhabitants in their searching for news. I noticed that there properly was a change in deciding where to search news. The use of the Internet augmented a lot. Before the earthquake no one surfed on local online newspapers, but after the earthquake there has been a time during which we chased ever updated news, and the Internet provided us this opportunity: before for monitoring the earthquakes, then for being updated by news about what was going on during the emergency, then now for following the activities of our local administration and the state of the art of our bureaucratic sheets for the reconstruction of our homes, that the local administrations are forced now to publish online.
The Internet was a useful tool also for allowing the coordination between camps during the emergency, as stated by Carlo Daniele: “We suddenly put an antenna thanks to a donation of Air2bite, and day by day, through the wireless, we communicated the number of people were slipping in our camp and we made a report to the camp of San Demetrio that was coordinating us by distance.” Thus the Internet immediately functioned as an alternative and fundamental source of information and as a tool for emergency operations between camps.
But there was more. It has been thanks to the local spontaneity of several communities within WKHFUDWHUWKDW¿QDOO\OLWWOHYLOODJHVKDYHFRQTXHUHGWKHLUvirtual space on the Internet: this is the case of San Giovanni, Paganica, Pescomaggiore, San Gregorio, Castelnuovo and so on. Before the earthquake these villages did not have their own website or they had just a rough on-
line page where people simply have put some photos of them. After the pag. 119
earthquake, thanks also to the new role the Internet started to play, and to the new community perception about it, people felt the need to empower these websites, or simply to create new ones that could talk about their ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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own villages and could give an institutionalizing image of their cultural DVVRFLDWLRQWRJHWKHUZLWKWKHLUYLOODJH,WLVSRVVLEOHWR¿QGVRPHFRPPRQ
aims in every different effort to start up a local online communication, but the results that communities are getting are very different from case to case. The Internet has meant different things, not always the same RQHVDFFRUGLQJWKHLURZQVSHFL¿FQHHGVDQGWKHUHODWLRQVKLSVWKH\JHW
According to the qualitative approach I decided to adopt, these websites are analysed from the perspective of the involved social actors and of their communities. A multi-method approach has been adopted, combining in-
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Sometimes the Internet has played a positive role in reinforcing empathy and community resilience when it was the direct bottom-up expression of the community needs and desires. The extraordinary bottom-up communication put in action by a community of Pescomaggiore is perhaps one of the most advanced example in this sense. Pescomaggiore is a little village near L’Aquila that before the earthquake did not have its own website and that was quite uncovered by the mainstream communication during the emergency. During the ¿UVWGD\VDIWHUWKHHDUWKTXDNHDVLQ6DQ*LRYDQQLRU6DQ1LFDQGURRU
Tussio, the NCP did not arrived suddenly, and people, after some nights inside their, begun to self-organize themselves, building their own camp ZLWKWKHWHQGSURYLGHGDW¿UVWE\WKH$UP\1&3QRPLQDWHGDZRPDQRI
Pescomaggiore as the chief of the camp and did not directly manage the activity and life within it, leaving people to “freely” organize themselves. The NCP arrived one month later and it was not an intervention structured as elsewhere.
During that period people were living within the camp, cooking on their RZQDQGPDNLQJFRPPRQJURFHU\VKRSSLQJVDW¿UVW³SDVVLQJWKHKDW´DV
in Tussio), after going to Paganica refugee camp, managed by the NCP Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: DQG WKHLU RI¿FLDO &20 RSHUDWLYH FHQWUH RI FRRUGLQDWLRQ RI UHIXJHH
camps). Few months after the earthquake, within Pescomaggiore community was born a group of young people that begun to promote and realize their own project of shelters that was completely alternative from what decision-makers were acting (C.A.S.E. and M.A.P.) : the EVA (self-built eco-village) project. A deeper sociological research on E.V.A. project and on its relationships with the original community of Pescomaggiore, because of its relevance, would have to be done, but it is important to underline that this group (now LW LV D QRQSUR¿W RUJDQL]DWLRQ EHJXQ DQ H[WUDRUGLQDU\ FRPPXQLFDWLRQ
through the Internet letting the same little village becoming famous around the world. Through this communication this young community can represent one of the most advanced example of how a bottom-up communication have changed the communicative rules within L’Aquila emergency territory.
pag. 120
Filippo Tronca, one of the main responsible of the EVA project of 3HVFRPDJJLRUHWROGPHFRQFHUQLQJWKHLUVSHFL¿FZD\RIFRPPXQLFDWLQJ
through the Internet: ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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+HUH\RXGRQRWKDYHWRLQYHQWDQ\WKLQJ,KDYHZRUNHGIRUPDQ\SUHVVRI¿FHV
and there you have to transform a shit of dog into a gold ingot. Here we do not have this need because of what we are doing is endowed with meaning on its own. We simply narrate what we are doing following two main trajectories: a) breaking the linguistic schemes. We use a language that is not at all bureaucratic, neither freak, neither scientistic, but simple, that everyone could understand;; b) simply telling about what we are doing. Another important thing is that we never cited the national civil protection, neither Berlusconi, neither the “piano C.A.S.E.”, because of we were slowly migrating away from L’Aquila so to create another thing. This resulted very important for people, because of, ok, every people has individually their own idea about politics, but must exist some places where you can create something else, another dimension, another path. Thus the very important thing is making a narration (even if it is an abused term and I do not like it). What you do is to create a novel through episodes and this is important because of it allows you to show images of places, of faces, of hands trying to use a poetic language, poetic but not rhetoric as for example the “lost taste of bread” so to tell the reconstruction of the oven. (…) What we try to do is to represent the “beauty”, the beauty of thoughts, the beauty of places, the beauty of the faces, of the true faces. (…) And it from there that we should restart.” The result was that his kind of communication has stimulated a great empathy among people from outside. 7KLV LV H[DFWO\ WKH FDVH ZHUH DV VXSSRVHG LQ WKH ¿UVW SDJHV RI WKLV
UHVHDUFKWKH,QWHUQHWDQGQHZPHGLDEH\RQGWKHLUVHOI¿QDQFHGZHEVLWH
they widely use also Facebook, making their own group that has over than 10000 friends, see Figg. 7-8) are often used by survived communities to empower external HPSDWK\ and solidarity, getting aid from outside. And Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: the solidarity they collected from outside the crater was extraordinary: L’Aquila post-quake situation
“We got contacts also in Japan, Canada, Germany, France and around Italy, especially from the north. People simply came to visit us and have made little donations to us (...)”. Internet in this case has also helped in empowering proximity between people that never have met each other before, around a common action of solidarity towards EVA project and the village of Pescomaggiore. It was also the case where Internet has functioned as a useful tool of fund raising so to empower the internal resource of their community and thus their community resilience: “we are all precarious workers with an average salary of around 600/700 euros per month. Among us there are also unemployed people. EVA project is a self-
¿QDQFHGSURMHFWZHSXWWRJHWKHURXUPRQH\EXWZHKDYHDOVRWKHQHHGWRJHW
people’s aid. Thus the need of building our communication through Internet was, ¿UVWRIDOOWRRUJDQL]HDIXQGUDLVLQJEXWDOVRWROHWXVDQGRXUSURMHFWEHLQJNQRZQ
and reinforcing those relationships that we built with volunteers and people that came to us to help us. We thus decided to be supported by a communication company with which we could share principles and values: they have, like us, an ethic vision of the communication. They compare communication to a ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
pag. 121
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slow work, as the slow work of cultivating the land. With them we built our website (Fig. 9), but it is more static than our Facebook group. We thus have FRQFHQWUDWHGRXUHIIRUWVPRUHRQRXUFROOHFWLYHSUR¿OHRI)DFHERRN$QGWKLV
was very important for us. We get around 150.000 euros of donations, most of )LJ(9$¶V)DFHERRNSUR¿OH
Fig. 8 Talking about People at work
Fig. 9 EVA’s web
them thanks to the Internet, and, as our internal statutory has established, people who donated us more than 250 euros can decide about our project.”
Sometimes the Internet and new media have contributed in “institutionalizing” those “resilient” and spontaneous community Empathy, Community Resilience, DFWLYLWLHVJLYLQJWRWKHPDQRI¿FLDOUHSUHVHQWDWLRQ
the Internet and New Media: Rather than the tragedy, the shock or the panic, they started to focus L’Aquila post-quake situation
instead on the old beauty of their villages, the concrete problems they had and those ones related to the reconstruction process and their social needs. Thus they begun to ask help for concrete projects of reconstruction or for social initiatives linked to it, trying to affect in this way the feeling of other people from outside. For example, in the same village of San Giovanni the blog that grew up after those months of that concrete paradise, was born together with the association “Amici del borgo di San Giovanni” and its function was not to make fund raising but to “reciprocate the trust” that people showed by donating them money. Thus money were collected thanks to personal contacts and Internet worked as a tool to account about their use. What told me Davide was in fact that: ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
“Our blog was helpful to collect money but in a secondary manner: money were donated us thanks to our personal contacts, thus that people trusted us, but then they naturally wanted an acknowledgement about where have money been and what we did with them. Every time they wanted to know that they surf our blog and through it they got the information they want and this was done especially pag. 122
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by e-mailing to the address we published on it, we then sent them more photos or informations”.
Before this blog (Fig. 10), San Giovanni did not have its own website and this represented thus a way to give an “institutionalized” representation of this little village, its destroyed church and the community needs. Thus, in this case the internet was thought as a tool not to increase participation, neither, to make fundraising but just to “reciprocate the trust”.
Fig. 10 San Giovanni’s website
Other times the Internet has played the role to empower transparency of WKHEDODQFHVKHHWVRIWKRVHQRSUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQVWKDWZHUHHVWDEOLVKHG
after the earthquake and have
This was the case of Castelnuovo. Castelnuovo is a little village built DURXQGLWVEHDXWLIXOPHGLHYDOIRUWL¿FDWLRQDWQRPRUHWKDQNLORPHWUHV Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: from L’Aquila. Three years and a half after the earthquake it is completely L’Aquila post-quake situation
destroyed and it still is abandoned into its own ruins. From the ruins arose DZLOOWRFRQVWLWXWHDQRQSUR¿WDVVRFLDWLRQVRWRSXWWRJHWKHUSHRSOHRI
the village answering to the need to build a collective voice that could be KHDUGDQGWKDWFRXOGEHRI¿FLDOO\UHFRJQL]HGE\WKHORFDODGPLQLVWUDWLRQ
of San Pio delle Camere. The association also has contributed to suggest to its public administration the place where MAP had to be built and gave its help in realizing for its village a public centre together with the local administration of Segrate, a little town near Milano. Another key issue according to which the QRQSUR¿W RUJDQL]DWLRQ ZDV IRXQGHG ZDV WKH QHHG WR FROOHFW PRQH\
and build-up projects that could be useful to the social reconstruction of Castelnuovo community. Around this need was born their website that answered to the need of being transparent about money and the way they were spent. Through the Internet they published their articles of association, its pag. 123
balance sheets and news about the convocations of the assemblies. %XWWKLVZDVQRWVXI¿FLHQWWRLQYROYHSHRSOHDQGJHWDIXOOLQKDELWDQWV
participation. As said to me by Lorenzo Fanale:
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“To be honest - we thought that through our website we also could get more participation. Yet we did not obtained a more people involvement. (…)Because, let’s say the truth, in a little village such as this, you involve people more at the bar than through the Internet. There was not a feedback of more participation directly linked to the fact tat we founded a website. We have also tried to put our bank account on line but it was not useful for us: through this methods we have collected just 100 euros of spontaneous online donations, nothing more. The money we have collected was only thanks to personal contacts that we matured DIWHUWKHHDUWKTXDNH7KXVIURPWKH,QWHUQHWZHJRWWKHEHQH¿WWREHFRPHPRUH
transparent, nothing else. Our aim was to communicate to the rest of the world and being transparent for us was a need because of many of the members of our organization are volunteers from outside of the crater and according to our statement we needed to account what we were doing and how we wanted to spent the money that our members have donated and that we received also from abroad.”
Also in Castelnuovo, as it was for San Giovanni, before the earthquake there was just an on-line rough page with some photos of the village. 7KXVWKHZHEVLWHRIWKHQRQSUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQWKDWZDVERUQDIWHUWKH
earthquake, was an helpful tool also to give an on-line more structured and “institutionalized” image of Castelnuovo through the website where they wrote the history of their village, they put photos telling the tragedy of the earthquake, the destroyed landscape they still have to live, but also Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: L’Aquila post-quake situation
Fig. 11 A frame from Ricostruiamo Castelnuovo ONLUS’s website
the ancient beauty and the cultural, historical and architectonical heritage it represented in past and that they want it could still to represent again in future through a just reconstruction. Several similarities could be detectable with the case of Paganica, a destroyed large village at few kilometres from L’Aquila. Few days after the earthquake, was born an association whose main objective was and VWLOOLVWRSXWDOOWKHFXOWXUDODQGQRQSUR¿WDVVRFLDWLRQVWKDWZHUHERUQ
in Paganica, together. This objective was mainly directed to have the possibility to manage all the money that every single association was getting from donations , in a public and in a transparent way for shared ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
pag. 124
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projects that could be useful for a common goal, the reconstruction of Paganica. This noble objective was condemned to fail just few months after its foundation because of every single association decided to manage the little money they were collecting on their own, notwithstanding all the good purposes they have made before. As said me by Francesco De Paulis, one of the main responsible of Salviamo Paganica ONLUS’s website:
6ORZO\DQGVWHSE\VWHSDOOWKHVRFLDORUJDQL]DWLRQVWKDW¿UVWO\FRQVWLWXWHGRXU
QRQSUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQSXOOWKHPVHOYHVRXWRILWDQGRQO\SHRSOHWKDWGLGQRW
previously belong to other organizations remained. At the end, the problem was a problem of money. No one wanted to share them towards a common horizon putting them at everyone’s disposal, but every associations wanted instead to manage their own little donations as they want.
1HYHUWKHOHVV WKH QRQSUR¿W RUJDQL]DWLRQ ZHQW IRUZDUG DQG EXLOW D
website that still represent the best on-line image of Paganica village. The website they have created for their village, still represents now an “institutionalising” image of the village and of the policies that the local government adopts within the village. Thus, never the Internet and the bottom-up usage of it (that he inhabitants KDYHGRQHE\FUHDWLQJWKH¿UVWZHOOVWUXFWXUHGZHEVLWHIRUWKHLURZQYLOODJH
WKURXJKWKHLURZQQRQSUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQKDVLWEHHQDVDQDQVZHUWR
the lack of local governance and of the institutional communication as it has been here. As Francesco De Paulis told me:
We decided to build up our website because there was a problem with the governance of policies and of communication within our village. At the political level, we depend by L’Aquila local government through a local electoral district that is organized through a council that should represent us and our needs within the local government of L’Aquila. The council of district of Paganica has always weaken every spontaneous initiatives that was made to involve its inhabitants and this also before the earthquake: you know what I mean, that old same way of GRLQJSROLWLFVDV\HDUVDJRZKHUHWKHUHZDVRQHSHUVRQWKDWZDVYHU\LQÀXHQW
and took a lot of votes during Paganica elections so to feel the right to decide everything on his own. This has chopped off the legs to every possibility to build up a community within our village, to let emerging a common public voice. At a communication level this way to make politics has never informed people about the arguments that were going to be discussed within the council and that were decided to represent within the local government of L’Aquila”.
Thus “Salviamo Paganica” website was born from the need of transparency and of participation and this was important mainly for those GRQDWLRQVWKDWWKLVQRQSUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQKDGWKHSRVVLELOLW\WRFROOHFW
thanks to the personal contacts that they have with the international non-
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cases we have already analysed the Internet has helped in getting the trust Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: L’Aquila post-quake situation
pag. 125
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RIWKRVHIRUHLJQVWKDWZHUHJDWKHUHGE\HPLJUDQWVDEURDGWR¿QDQFLDOO\
support their relatives and the humanitarian projects they have proposed for their native community. However spontaneous donations through the Internet were less important than those collected thanks to personal contacts. The main role this website played was in contributing to give a cultural change to the traditional way of governance and to politically share a vision for the future reconstruction of Paganica, stimulating the debate among those people that in Paganica usually surf on the Internet: “First of all the website is a useful tool for the community of Paganica. It has been and it still is a useful tool to give public evidence of political decisions taken by L’Aquila municipality and to publish our own activities. We wanted to promote the idea of cooperation and to bring a completely different idea of citizenry based on transparency and participation, by also carrying on political initiatives on our own, as the opposition against the proposal of a Biomass power plant that our council did not have the courage to carry on within the local government of L’Aquila”.
However, as it was in other many cases, this cultural change have more LQÀXHQFHGWKRVHSHRSOHZKRXVHWKH,QWHUQHWLQWKHLUGDLO\OLIHEXWQRWDOO
the inhabitants of Paganica, because people that do not use the Internet in Paganica are still a lot:
“ our website was supposed to be a direct tool of communication available to all. Then it naturally was not towards all, because the majority of the inhabitants of our village does not have the skills or the possibility to get the access to the Internet, and having realized it has meant for us to activate an alternative channel of information: through the authorization of our district council we now publish every information concerning our activities and social initiatives also on WKHRI¿FLDOEXOOHWLQERDUGRI3DJDQLFD´
)LJ6DOYLDPR3DJDQLFD21/86¶VZHEVLWH'LVFXVVLRQDQG¿QDO
remarks: a possible pathway for future investigations
pag. 126
As we have seen, according to the qualitative approach that I presented above, during the emergency and the slow reconstruction process that L’Aquila has faced and still is facing, even if further investigations should RIVISTA
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be done, immediately after the earthquake the Internet has represented a fundamental source of alternative informations and a tool for the coordination of operations and communication between refugee camps. Then, the Internet played different roles within the survived communities DFFRUGLQJWRWKHLURZQVSHFL¿FQHHGVDQGFRQWLQJHQFLHVGHSHQGLQJE\
the nature of the relationships they had and they built through the Internet. The interesting thing to underline is that, while it sometimes plays a relevant role in empowering SUR[LPLW\ among people that never have met each other before, as it was the case of Pescomaggiore, for example, the Internet, although in the cases I have analysed, never facilitated the participation of people of the same community, that are more easy to reach “at the bar rather than through the Internet”.
On the other hand, the Internet and new media seem to be mainly used to HPSRZHUWUDQVSDUHQF\RIWKHEDODQFHVKHHWVRIQRQSUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQV
and to “institutionalize” those “resilient” and spontaneous community activities. This feature could have culturally changed, as it is becoming to be the case of Paganica, or aims to change the way of administrating the city or the village within which this new way of working came into action thanks to the spontaneity of groups and associations that DLPV WR ¿OO WKH JDS FDXVHG E\ D ODFN RI JRYHUQDQFH DQG LQVWLWXWLRQDO
communicaiton. Other times the Internet has helped in getting the trust of foreign people that were gathered by emigrants abroad in order to “reciprocate the trust” and give an account about how money were spent. Sometimes survived communities can elaborate through the Internet a more emotional communication in order to move the empathy of external QRQSUR¿W RUJDQL]DWLRQV VRPHWLPHV LW KDV EHHQ D WRRO RI FRRUGLQDWLRQ
of mutual aid among the same members of the community. Other times the Internet has represented two or more these things together, or no one of these, while it was created thinking to reach other different results. Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: Generally speaking, the Internet and the new media may also play the L’Aquila post-quake situation
IXQGDPHQWDO UROH WR EHFRPH DQ DPSOL¿HU RI WKH FROOHFWLYH DZDUHQHVV
giving to people the possibility to mature, through self-made narrations and self representations made by self-made videos and photos, a growing consciousness of the potential and the concrete value of their own abilities. This qualitative complex approach is very important, I suggest, in order to understand the Internet and the new media as social phenomena, from the perspective of the involved community. This could allow to better comprehend which are the main social organizations that spontaneously get engaged within positive dynamics towards the formulation of both material and immaterial reconstruction of L’Aquila emergency territory SURSRVDOV XQGHUVWDQGLQJ WKHLU VSHFL¿F QHHGV DQG GHVLUHV DQG WKHQ
“making them endure, giving them space”.
Within the international project On the wings of L’Aquila, OECD-
Groningen report states (cf. http://www.oecd.org/gov/regional-
pag. 127
policy/49866886.pdf) that in L’Aquila “the reconstruction process is currently experiencing an impasse, at least as far as public perceptions are concerned, with as yet little or no clear consultation process regarding ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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the vision for the future rebuilding of the city”. This is mainly due to “a poor accountability and incoherence of policies, linked to a dialogue with stakeholders which is not systematic, poor information sharing, absence of common objectives and a widespread distrust and low engagement of citizens” (OECD-Groningen 2012, p. 16). In short, in L’Aquila the reconstruction agenda is currently dominated by technical issues and bureaucratic complications, while a cultural debate on reconstruction related-issues and visions is largely absent. This, as stated by OECD-
Groningen report should be articulated as soon as is realistically possible. The problem highlighted above, as stated also by OECD-Groningen report, requires a decisive effort to create communication networks across different groups and organizations: “in this case, there is an urgent need to engage citizenry and new coalitions to embrace change and convey a shared vision of the future of the area hit by the earthquake. In similar post-disaster situations, such as New Orleans in the United States after Hurricane Katrina, the use of timely, accessible and relevant data has prompted policy actions and motivated citizens after the initial emergency phase. The establishment of information platforms that link different stakeholders and measure key outcome of the regional redevelopment strategy has proved to be a relevant knowledge tool to understand whether a better course is being designed and implemented. This information platform should include explicit indicators to monitor progress and achieved outcomes. It could also be combined with a formal stakeholders analysis to clarify: which roles are being played by whom;; who provides an audit of the reconstruction and redevelopment actions already undertaken;; which actions that have been promised (and not yet completed), and the links between the actions and intended outcomes”.
,QIDFWLQPDQ\FDVHVDVZHKDYHVHHQDERYHWKHQRQSUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQV Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: that were born after the earthquake with the name of the village where L’Aquila post-quake situation
they were constituted, aimed to answer not just to a lack of governance of the local administration they had to refer to, but also to a lack of the institutional communication. The analysis of those associations that were born in L’Aquila reveals their primary need to “participate” and “inform”. The lack of governance and of institutional communication, their unreliability is more intuitively detectable in little villages like those listed above. However we may VD\ WKDW ³WKLV ODFN ZDV D OXFN´ EHFDXVH LW DOORZV WKH ÀRXULVKLQJ RI D
new emerging form of participation that allowed people becoming protagonists of many bottom-up projects and initiatives throughout the whole L’Aquila territory. What still lacks is the creation of a common vision towards a reconstruction process of the whole L’Aquila territory that should be also understood as a sustainable rural development. This could be concretely reached by discovering and then giving much more relevance to these resilient phenomena spread out within this tough and pag. 128
mountain territory, and engaging L’Aquila inhabitants together with those who inhabit the villages within the crater.
In this sense understanding the aftershock communication as the virtual ANGEL JONAS IMPERIALE
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or the semiotic sphere of that FRQFUHWHSDUDGLVHRIDIWHUVKRFNHFRQRP\
seems crucial. Aftershock economy and aftershock communication could be interpreted as the community resilient ability that more generally allow people to LQKDELW WKH HPHUJHQF\. According to La Cecla (2000) WKHKXPDQDFWLYLW\RILQKDELWLQJLVDVSHFL¿FKXPDQVNLOO,QWHUSUHWLQJ
the inhabiting as a skill in order to evaluate the FRPPXQLW\ TXDOLW\ RI
life, “means not yet to inquire which is the wealth degree neither how it is distributed among people community (i.e. the inequality degree). It means instead to inquire what people are able to do in that particular community: how much their dignity as human being is recognized and enhanced, and how much they are free to chose their own life in the concreteness of their particular conditions” (Saraceno, 2002). Thus, the ability of LQKDELWLQJWKHHPHUJHQF\ is interpreted as the whole conjunct of all the activities that allow the social survival of the community and the satisfaction of the primary needs of each members (aftershock economy), and the production and the communication of cultural values, meanings and shared visions (aftershock communication). Recognizing the existence of this conjunct of resilient abilities within a survived community, thus means rightfully recognizing it and all its members as the main protagonists of the reconstruction process of their own territory that people have to inhabit again. This, in order to give to a possible place-based sustainable recovery SURFHVVDQGGHYHORSPHQWFRQFUHWHVRFLDOFRQWHQWVVRDVWR¿OOWKHQHZ
emergent place-based paradigm (Barca 2009;; OECD 2009a,b;; CAF 2010). A cross-disciplinary analysis is essential to better understand the nature of people’s relationships to place in order to orient a sustainable development process that after a natural disaster have to be started up facilitating the full recovery of the survived community. This approach could help to get the embeddedness, relatedness, connectedness principles Empathy, Community Resilience, the Internet and New Media: (Mc Cann & Ortega-Argilés, 2011) and translate the aspatial smart L’Aquila post-quake situation
specialization idea of a relevant size domain, into a Smart Specialization-
%DVHG5HJLRQDO3ROLF\'HVLJQ (Mc Cann & Ortega-Argilés, ibid.).
Aknowledgment
First of all, the author would like to thank the San Nicandro community within whose refugee camp he lived for six months, sharing “joy in sorrow” and “courage in fear”;; then Marrone’s family of San Giovanni Community and Marco and Davide Marrone for their photos, De Rubeis’s family of Tussio’s community and Gildo for his photos, Filippo Tronca, Lorenzo Fanale, Francesco De Paulis, Roberto Costantini and Fabrizio Fiore Donati. Special thanks also to the CSV of L’Aquila for its precious advices and to Ms. Chiara Vitaliani chief of the Check and Inspection 2I¿FHRIWKHORFDORI¿FHRIWKH1DWLRQDO,QFRPH5HYHQXH$JHQF\DQG
to Ms. Olga Vitagliano Stendardo, general director of L’Aquila local government of the National Income Revenue Agency for the data they kindly provided me.
pag. 129
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networks and social capital
PIC-AIS
di Stefania Carulli, PhD at Sapienza University of Rome
stefania.carulli@uniroma1.it
Abstract
The objective of this research is to investigate how the presence on social networks FRQWULEXWHV WR WKH JURZWK RI WKH VRFLDO FDSLWDO RI QRQSUR¿W RUJDQL]DWLRQV7KH VDP-
ple considered includes the national volunteering associations belonging to the Forum Nazionale del Terzo Settore. The survey is based on integration of on line and off line WHFKQLTXHVRIUHVHDUFKDQGFRQVLVWLQWKHPRQLWRULQJRILQVWLWXWLRQDOSUR¿OHVRIWKHDVVR-
ciations on major social networks and non-standard interviews.
Lo scopo della ricerca è indagare in che modo la presenza sui social network contribu-
LVFDDOODFUHVFLWDGHOFDSLWDOHVRFLDOHGHOOHRUJDQL]]D]LRQLQRQSUR¿W,OFDPSLRQHFRQ-
siderato include le associazioni nazionali di volontariato aderenti al Forum Nazionale del Terzo Settore. L’indagine, basata su tecniche di ricerca on line e off line, prevede il PRQLWRUDJJLRGHLSUR¿OLLVWLWX]LRQDOLGHOOHDVVRFLD]LRQLVXLSULQFLSDOLVRFLDOQHWZRUNH
interviste a testimoni privilegiati.
N°3 – 2013
ISSN 2036-9700
Keywords
6RFLDOQHWZRUNVVRFLDOFDSLWDOQRQSUR¿WYROXQWHHULQJDVVRFLDWLRQV
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In recent years the debate on the role of communication in organization-
al processes and in the growth of a culture of solidarity is facing larger LQWKHQRQSUR¿WVHFWRU7KHUHODWLRQVKLSEHWZHHQQRQSUR¿WDQGPHGLD
system was marked by a widespread “distrust” attitude which, in recent times, has given way to a gradual change (Springhetti 2008): this distrust consisted of, on the one hand, the lack of media attention, for non-prof-
it themes outside of emergency situations, and the consequent scolding E\WKHQRQSUR¿WRQWKHRWKHUKDQGWKHODFNRIPHGLDDWWUDFWLYHQHVVRI
WKH LVVXHV FRYHUHGE\ WKHQRQSUR¿W:LWKWKH VSUHDG RI ZHE QHZ
practices of content creation by users and the development of online par-
ticipation (Jenkins 2006) have changed the course of this idiosyncrasy. 6SHFL¿FDOO\ WKH QHZ PHGLD SOD\ D YLWDO UROH LQ WKH GLVVHPLQDWLRQ DQG
circulation of social issues, and because of this presence, have an active relationship at the base of civic participation (Dahlgren 2009). In the light of the “now evident and recognized growth of movements and col-
lective mobilization that in the web can rise and spread of” (Ducci 2009, SQRQSUR¿WVHFWRUKDVDXQSUHFHGHQWHGFKDQFHQHZPHGLDLQIDFW
RIIHUDVSDFHRIYLVLELOLW\IRUWKHDJHQFLHVWKDW¿JKWVRFLDOH[FOXVLRQDQG
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landscape (Volterrani 2006). This opportunity given by new media in WKH¿HOGRIQRQSUR¿WVHHPVWRJLYHQHZSURVSHFWVDQGKLJKOLJKWVWKHLU
ability to interact with the forms of engagement that are emerging in the social web, contributing to the enlargement of the concept of social communication.
1RQSUR¿WDVVRFLDWLRQVVXFKDVWKRVHWKDWSURPRWHSDUWLFLSDWLRQDQGFLW-
izenship in solidarity, as well as centres devoted to the production of sociality (Donati, Colozzi, 2006;; Magatti 2005), dealing with issues of collective interest (Faccioli 2000;; Gadotti 2001;; Mancini 1999), are ful-
O\ÀHGJHGDFWRUVRIVRFLDOFRPPXQLFDWLRQ
The sociological literature has proposed various approaches about the na-
ture and boundaries of this type of communication. Although the debate RQLWVGH¿QLWLRQLVVWLOOLQSURJUHVVWKHUHDUHZHOOHVWDEOLVKHGSDWKVRIUH-
VHDUFKDLPHGWRVKRZWKDWLWLVDSURSHU¿HOGRIVWXG\ZLWKLWVGLVWLQFWLYH
IHDWXUHV)RUH[DPSOHDFFRUGLQJWRWKHGH¿QLWLRQWKDWLVIRXQGHGRQWKH
role of the actors of this kind of communication, “the social communica-
tion would be [...] communication made by those individuals, public and private, who act for the common good, solidarity and social cohesion” (Peruzzi 2011, p.32). Other contributions identify social communication by analyzing the issues it covers (Gadotti 2005) and the degree of con-
troversy generated by these (Gadotti 2005;; Faccioli 2000;; Mancini 2011;; Bosco 2008). According to other interpretations, however, social com-
munication stands out for the aims it pursues. In other words, it plays a crucial role in the creation of social ties (Bosco 2008), “as a fundamental dimension of the processes of ritualization and regeneration of solidar-
ity” (De Sandre 2008, p. 49). In particular, they underline the ability of social communication to “support the spread of the share capital, to extend in a widespread and pervasive relational spaces and generate pro-
active promotion of social support networks of sociability and solidarity 1RQSUR¿WEHWZHHQVRFLDO
STEFANIA CARULLI
pag. 134
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[...] creating a ripple effect relationships, to interconnect the individual to the community in the full sharing of core values, practices knowledge QHHGVWKURXJKDSURFHVVRILGHQWL¿FDWLRQDQGFRQWDPLQDWLRQ´0RUFHOOL-
ni, Mazza 2008, p. 74).
In any case, in the lines of research proposed so far, we can see connect-
ing elements: the differences and similarities found from these readings FRQYHUJH LQ DI¿UPLQJ LQ IDFW WKH VLJQL¿FDQW ZHLJKW RI WKH QRQSUR¿W
RUJDQL]DWLRQLQWKHSURPRWLRQRIUHODWLRQVKLSDQGVLJQL¿FDQWVRFLDOWLHV
In the light of these considerations, the aim of this paper is to explore whether and how social networking sites, places for the dissemination and growth of sociality, contribute to enriching in terms of social capital those subjects that work for social relations and solidarity.
The organisations involved and the research
The work that will be presented is part of a broader empirical researchn.1 RQRQOLQHDQGRIÀLQHFRPPXQLFDWLRQVWUDWHJLHVRIVRPHQRQSUR¿WRUJD-
nizations operating at national level. In particular, the research aims to investigate the importance of communication within the voluntary sec-
WRULWVYDOXHVZLWKUHVSHFWWRWKHGH¿QLWLRQRIWKHLGHQWLW\RIWKLVVHFWRU
and its structural importance in organizational processes of associations. There are many federations and active coordination centres at the nation-
DO OHYHO WKDW DUH VSHFL¿F DUHDV RI QRQSUR¿W EXW WKRXJK WKLV LPSRUWDQW
presence in our civil society shows a wealth of actors and a diversity of RWKHU¿HOGVRIDFWLRQLWDOVRUHWXUQVDYHU\FRPSOH[LPDJHRIQRQSUR¿W
organizations. Through the activities of nationally representative orga-
nizations, however, the fragmented nature of the third sector seems less complex, because they try to unify the needs of this sector, and allows to JHWFORVHUWRWKHQRQSUR¿WZRUOGLQDPRUHGLUHFWZD\,QWKLVFDVHWKH
¿HOGUHVHDUFKLV)RUXP1D]LRQDOHGHO7HU]R6HWWRUHWKH1DWLRQDO)RUXP
RIWKH7KLUG6HFWRUWKHUHFRJQL]HGVRFLDODQGRI¿FLDOUHSUHVHQWDWLRQRI
DODUJHSDUWRIWKHLWDOLDQQRQSUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQVIRUPRUHWKDQ¿IWHHQ
years: in particular, based on the considerations that follow, it was de-
cided to consider only some organizations within the Forum, the asso-
ciations present in the Consulta per il Volontariato presso il Forum del Terzo settore (the Council for the Volunteering Sector in the Forum of the Third Sector).
First, the high degree of representativeness of the Forum del Terzo Set-
toren.2 DQG LWV QRQSUR¿W DVVRFLDWLRQV 7KH )RUXP HVSHFLDOO\ LQ UHFHQW
The survey was developed as part of the research for my PhD thesis: Volun-
tary 2.0 (?). A new challenge of participatory culture of the web and new associative dynamics, nearing completion, Scuola di Dottorato Mediatrends, Sapienza University of Rome.
2
7KH)RUXPUHSUHVHQWVPRUHWKDQQDWLRQDOQRQSUR¿WDVVRFLDWLRQVRIVHFRQG
and third level involved in various areas: voluntary associations, social and international FRRSHUDWLRQHWKLFDO¿QDQFHDQGIDLUWUDGH,WLVDQDVVRFLDWLRQWKDWDLPVWR³UHSUHVHQWWKH
STEFANIA CARULLI
1
pag. 135
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years, has played an institutional role as a representative for the needs and requests of the third sector and voluntary sectors in the negotiations with their political and social counterparts. In addition to joining togeth-
er the various personalities of the third sector, it is particularly active in raising public awareness of the fundamental issues and values of the QRQSUR¿W GLVDELOLW\ EORRG GRQDWLRQ FRQVXPHU SURWHFWLRQ KHDOWK DQG
social care, emergency services and the promotion of sport and culture. In uniting many organizations often engaged simultaneously in sectorial UHSUHVHQWDWLYHERGLHVIRUZKLFKLWLVGLI¿FXOWWR¿QGYLVLELOLW\WKH)RUXP
acts as an aggregator of demands and claims which would otherwise re-
main in the background. Another aspect that highlights the importance RIWKH)RUXPLVWKHKHWHURJHQHLW\RIWKHQRQSUR¿WDVVRFLDWLRQV7KHOLVW
of members includes a diverse range of associations: voluntary, social promotion, representatives of enterprises and cooperatives, development cooperation, the host communities. This is the result of a pulverization of WKHQRWIRUSUR¿WVHFWRUGHWHUPLQHGE\WKH,WDOLDQODZZKLFKVWLOOODFNV
DVLQJOHUXOHIRUQRQSUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQVUHVXOWLQJLQGLIIHUHQWW\SHVRI
organizations being regulated by many different laws of reference. Be-
longing to a legal status, however, while providing a formal structure that characterizes the tax and administrative doesn’t hinder in daily practice the variety of services and projects promoted by these individuals. In the present work, we have chosen the associations in the Consulta for the Volunteering Sector in the Forum. The associations that operate there are based on different legal forms and deal with the subject of volunteering in different ways and styles, but are united by the same goals that char-
acterize solidarity activities.
Secondly we need to emphasize the role of multi-level organizations in the production of multi-relational and social capital. The organizations here studied operate at the national level with an extensive supporting structure, in addition to associations throughout the country, at provin-
cial, regional, interregional levels of coordination. Giovanna Rossi de-
¿QHV³PXOWLOHYHORUJDQL]DWLRQVWKDWJDWKHUDWWKHLURWKHULQWHUQDODVVRFL-
ations to which they are linked by relationships and functions that vary depending on the case and against which represent a coordinative upper level (second level or higher levels)” (Rossi 2006, p. 22). The author, in order to interpret the characteristics of these subjects, opts for “a con-
FHSWXDO GH¿QLWLRQ RI OHYHO WR DVVHVV QRW RQO\ WKH KLHUDUFKLFDO UDQN EXW
also the different type of functions performed” distinguishing degrees of organizations in accordance “to criteria of management responsibilities” (ibid.). In fact, according to this interpretation these associations “are GH¿QHGDVPXOWLOHYHORUJDQL]DWLRQVWKDWGRQRWGLUHFWO\GHOLYHUJRRGVRU
interests and common instances of Third Sector organizations at international, national and local level with regard to the institutions, political parties and other organizations, economic and social, work for the development of voluntary organizations and active citizenship, promote the overall development of the third sector in its various forms and expressions, and also through partnership arrangements and ongoing consultation” (Article 2 of the Statute).
STEFANIA CARULLI
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VHUYLFHVEXWRIIHUVXSSRUWWRRWKHUDI¿OLDWHGJURXSVFUHDWLQJDQHWZRUN
of associations on two or more levels” (ibid.). Then the associations we have dealt with in this survey are employed primarily in the management of the network membership and act in synergy with other bodies that make up the network. These dynamics propose possible, but inevitable, risks to internal cohesion related to the presence of heterogeneous reality (Rossi 2006), but lead the organizations to take a strategic role in terms of creation and reproduction of social capital: in fact the network of the associations constitute a node connection between different contexts and, ZRUNLQJWRUHSUHVHQWWKHLQWHUHVWVRIWKHQRQSUR¿WDORQJVLGHRWKHUDF-
tors involved on the same front.
A third point of interest in these experiments is the communication ac-
tivities of these associations. As mentioned above, these organizations are not directly operating on the territory, are marginally involved in the delivery of activities and services (which are often the calling card of the QRQSUR¿W DQG DUH HQJDJHG LQ SROLWLFDO GLUHFWLRQ ZLWK UHVSHFW WR ERWK
bringing associations together, and dealing with public opinion. Aware-
QHVVUDLVLQJRQVSHFL¿FLVVXHVDQGUHSUHVHQWDWLRQRIWKHQHWZRUNPHP-
bership are two elements that go counter to the detachment in perception between the perceived image and announced of the associations. In fact, very often the highly operational aimed at solving problems of limit-
ed small associations does not return the efforts of the most extensive in raising awareness of the issues and, at the same time, the capacity of associations in dialogue with other public remains the prerogative of international organizations (Solito, Sorrentino 2011). Communication thus becomes an essential factor for the full recognition of the sector and WKHLGHQWLW\IRUPLQJSURFHVVHVRIQRQSUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQVQRWRQO\IRU
promotional purposes but with the aim of giving visibility to a network of relations between associations and public/private organisations, and the actual on-site work. Following this reasoning we explored, through the study of the presence of these associations on social networks, two central aspects in the lives of these organizations: i.e. communication strategies put in place to promote their identity and the issues they are dealing with, and the impact of new technologies on the state of the net-
work organization.
A few notes on the method and the investigation carried out. The method of research included qualitative techniques both online and off line. The exploration of the online presence of the associations involved the partic-
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LQSDUWLFXODUWKHRI¿FLDOSUR¿OHVRIDFWLYHFKDQQHOVRQ<RXWXEHDQG)DFH-
book. Off-line, interviews were carried out in non-standard depth with LQIRUPDWLRQRI¿FHUVRIDVVRFLDWLRQVZKHQWKHVHZHUHQRWDYDLODEOHZH
LQWHUYLHZHGWKHKHDGVRISUHVVRI¿FHVRUPDQDJHUVZLWKUHVSRQVLELOLW\IRU
communication). Interviews with witnesses, conducted in parallel to the REVHUYDWLRQRILQVWLWXWLRQDOSUR¿OHVRQVRFLDOQHWZRUNVPDGHLWSRVVLEOH
WRJDLQLQVLJKWVRQWKHLQWHUQDOPDQDJHPHQWRIWKHZRUNÀRZDQGWKHDS-
proaches of individual associations in the face of dilemmas and questions posed by the use of social media.
STEFANIA CARULLI
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The research results
27 associations are part of the Council for Volunteering at the Forum of the Third Sector (tab. 1.);; of these, 20 are on Facebook (not counting the SUR¿OHVRIORFDOFRRUGLQDWLRQDQGDVVRFLDWLRQVVFDWWHUHGWKURXJKRXWWKH
FRXQWU\ZKLOHKDYHDQRI¿FLDOFKDQQHORQ<RXWXEH7KHUHIUHVKUDWH
on Facebook is almost daily, while it is slower on Youtube, especially given the efforts needed to launch new material shot in associations or WRFUHDWHSXEOLFDZDUHQHVVFDPSDLJQV,QPRVWFDVHVWKHVHSUR¿OHVKDYH
FRPHWROLJKWLQWKHODVWWKUHH\HDUVDQGKDYHEHQH¿WHGE\WKHSUHVHQFH
on Facebook, which in this respect has been a trailblazer for the arrival of QRQSUR¿WVRFLDOQHWZRUNV,QIDFW)DFHERRNVHHPVWREHWKH¿UVWFRQWDFW
with the world of social media, and is considered to be more accessi-
ble, primarily for two reasons. First, the skills acquired by individuals through personal use of Facebook are made available in the associative context, this involves an easier initial approach, especially if conduct-
HG E\ RQH RU PRUH VWDII PHPEHUV ZKR KDYH QRW \HW EHHQ VSHFL¿FDOO\
³WUDLQHG´6HFRQGWKHPDQDJHPHQWRIWKHSUR¿OHZLWKWKHSXEOLFDWLRQRI
posts, videos or photos, sharing links to the organization of events, offer different expressive registers (both textual and visual) which are not as immediately available on other social networks like Twitter.
,QVKRUWWKHFRQWHQWRQWKHRI¿FLDO)DFHERRNDQG<RXWXEHSUR¿OHVRIWKH
associations can be summarized as follows:
- service communications: this category includes association news, updates related to current events or calendar, links to activities report-
ed from other sites, usually associations of coordination but also other QRQSUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQV
IHHGEDFN IURP WKH YROXQWHHUV LQ WKLV JURXS ZH ¿QG WKH DVVRFLDWLRQV
belonging to national coordination, which post shots and videos of am-
DWHXUYROXQWHHUVLQYROYHGLQWKHDFWLYLWLHVRIORFDORI¿FHVDQVZHUVDQG
FRPPHQWVUDLVHGE\WKHSRVWSXEOLVKHGRQWKHSUR¿OH
- promotional videos and awareness-raising: under this label there are spots created for “cinque per mille”;; awareness campaigns, the actions of directors or the president in television programs, brief news reports on facts and topics involving close associations , demonstrations and events of the association.
In an attempt to understand how the presence on social networks has af-
fected the identity and narrative of organizations, the material published LQWKHVHSUR¿OHVKDVEHHQVWXGLHGDORQJWKUHHPDLQGLPHQVLRQVRIDQDO\-
VLVWKH¿UVWFRQFHUQVWKHDFWLYLW\RIWKHSUR¿OHVFUHDWHGE\FRQWDFWZLWK
supporters and other third sector organizations;; the second concerns the self-production of audiovisual or photographic material in support of the issues they are dealing with;; the third concerns the consequences at the organizational level of the presence on social networks.
STEFANIA CARULLI
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From Facebook to Youtube: the importance of being there
The presence on social networks is no longer a matter of choice. Nowa-
days, taking part in the social vision of the web turns out to be a neces-
sary step for organizations, for those with a long-running communication RI¿FHDQGIRUWKRVHZLWKDEUDQGQHZFRPPXQLFDWLRQRI¿FHDOWKRXJKWKH
most common attitude is halfway between caution and enthusiasm. The fact of dealing with sensitive issues that touch on questions of margin-
alization and vulnerability, leads to calibrate carefully the debates that concern often highly topical themes. In particular, the time constraints of the communication of social networks, and more generally, the speed and simplicity on which the logic of the participative web is based, might not OHDYHVXI¿FLHQWVSDFHWRWKHLQGHSWKWUHDWPHQWUHTXLUHGE\PDQ\FRP-
plex topics (Bernocchi, Gadotti 2011).
We had doubts whether to go on social networks or not. We had received solicitations in this regard. It involves a high workload. For now, we have FKRVHQRQO\)DFHERRN:HLQLWLDOO\FUHDWHGDJURXS7KH¿UVWWZRGD\V
we reached 3000 people. We are now over 5000 and we had to create a page for that purpose. It requires some kind of editorial control, some things that are put on our wall do not suit us. Our communication travels on our own website, which can now accommodate photos and videos. We tried to make an advertisement on Facebook on the occasion of an event. We have not seen a big effect, we keep the communication as it is, social networks are popular but wasteful. We prefer a more targeted communication (E. Caneti, Fish).
The language used by social networks, still considered poor, does not return the full richness of expression that is needed to raise awareness of the values of solidarity, or to keep the informal relationship with those who support social causes. In this sense, the message posted by one of WKH DVVRFLDWLRQV GXULQJ WKH WUDQVLWLRQ IURP WKH SUR¿OH WR WKH IDQ SDJH
(during which some contacts were lost) is telling:
A few days ago, in accordance with the policies of Facebook, we decided WRWXUQRXUSUR¿OHWRDQHZSDJHHYHQLIZHIHOWPRUHFRPIRUWDEOHWR
have “friends” rather than “fans”, it was time to change but something ZHQWZURQJ«IURP)RFVLY)DFHERRNSUR¿OH$XJXVW
On the other hand, the network of contacts created on social network DPRQJGLIIHUHQWVXEMHFWVLQWKHQRQSUR¿WVHWVWKHVWDJHWRJLYHYLVLELOLW\
WR LVVXHV WKDW RWKHUZLVH ZRXOG QRW ¿QG WKH VSDFH WKH\ GHVHUYH RQ WKH
traditional media, and feeding fruitful interactions were born in the same network. An example is the campaign L’Italia sono anche io, through the work of the organizing committee and some associations participating in the Forum, a privileged channel where to speak in sober tones and with direct evidence, the right of citizenship for the second generation after the end of the campaign. In addition, the decision to focus on Facebook rather than the so-called ethnic social networks (which may isolate cer-
tain voices in the social debate) is a tangible sign of a desire to commu-
nicate these themes360 degrees wide, regardless of national allegiances:
Customs are such as those of young Italians. Citizenship is the most sen-
STEFANIA CARULLI
pag. 139
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sitive issue because it concerns the identity. For the rest of the issues are political, economic, wide-ranging, because these guys [second genera-
tion] have an interest in the country in which they live, the issues are very varied, without discrimination of interest in relation to young people Ital-
LDQV00RXVVDL¿$QROI*LRYDQL
It is also interesting to note that the associations that do not count among its members many young people, such as associations that deal with the promotion of the elderly, or organizations engaged in topics considered most distant from the interests of the new generation, show a growing in-
terest in the new possibilities of social networks, so to start, in one case, the creation of ad hoc social networks:
Yes, even if our national leadership is made up of younger people for the most part. But from all there was enthusiasm and there is familiar-
ity, even locally. There are many, and crowded, Facebook pages of our EUDQFKRI¿FHV>@7KHUHZLOOEHDVSHFL¿FVRFLDOQHWZRUNVWXGLHGE\$LFV
for the sports world. New. It is a working group of experts (E. Dema, Aics).
Photos, videos, and magazines: another reading of current events
In terms of content the social networks seem to give some relief to pub-
lications by associations and offer a wider readership. Almost all repre-
sentatives have stated that, within associations, for some time there has been underway a graphic and editorial redesign on the magazines, which DUHVWLOOFRQVLGHUHGDQLPSRUWDQWNH\WRUHÀHFWLRQRQWKHWKHPHVRIWKH
association. While keeping in many cases the paper version to reach for GLIIHUHQW FDWHJRULHV RI VXSSRUWHUV PDJD]LQHV DUH RQ )DFHERRN SUR¿OH
DPSOLI\LQJWKHGLVWULEXWLRQDQGUHDFKLQJDQDXGLHQFHVRIDUGLI¿FXOWWR
bring out the contact network of professionals or institutional addresses.
The network of contacts between different experiences of association is the ideal ground on which to experiment with new languages to describe themselves and their interests. In cases where there is self-produced ma-
terial with photos or videos of events relating to the association, ranging from institutional images of the conferences until the publication of the testimonies of volunteers, begin to emerge the need to offer a different interpretation of actuality. The campaign previously mentioned, through YLGHRV LPDJHV DQG LQWHUYLHZV VWDQGV DV D VLJQL¿FDQW FRQWULEXWLRQ WR D
change in tone and content, the social imaginary related to a topic of such complexity, such as immigration and second generations, often restricted asphyxiated in the meshes of journalistic narratives and on which the QRQSUR¿WFDQZRUNWRFKDQJHWKHPRVWFRPPRQFXOWXUDOIUDPH9ROW-
errani 2011). In particular, the production of videos, is now considered strategic to inform about their activities, as well as to build the identity of the association, on the inner as well as on the outer side (Waters, Jones 2011). Even on topics of minor relevance, and which now seem to have a stable place in the public arena, there is a continuing commitment by WKHDVVRFLDWLRQVWRGHEDWHDQGWR¿QGQHZDUHDVRIGLVFXVVLRQHVSHFLDOO\
STEFANIA CARULLI
pag. 140
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since media attention fades away shortly after emergency situations. For example in one of their campaigns Avis succeeded in raising awareness on blood donation, by counting on the synergy between social networks in a virtuous circle between Facebook and Youtube: The latest campaign has focused entirely on social media, and in partic-
XODURQ)DFHERRN<RXFDQ¿QGLWRQWKHVLWHVDOYDJOLODYLWDFRP7KHUHLV
the whole explanation of the campaign, which was intended to interact with the public Facebook which is made of an audience of friends and contacts. This campaign has also won two awards (F. Cavazza, Avis Na-
zionale).
Similarly Anpas three years on after the earthquake in Abruzzo, still con-
tinues to publish testimonies and reports on the issue to keep alive the concern for emergency and risk prevention.
New internal dynamics
7KHUHODWLRQVKLSEHWZHHQFRVWVDQGEHQH¿WVGXHWRDPRUHLQWHQVLYHXVH
of new technologies certainly shows a positive trend. The use of email in work practices, as Skype for remote meetings (especially when it comes to national associations that need to maintain constant relations with branch locations) and the website as a tool of internal information are now replacing established organizational tools. But the use of social QHWZRUNVOHDGVWRDIXUWKHUUHÀHFWLRQ$VQRWHGLQSUHYLRXVVWXGLHV³IRU
WKHDFWRUVRIVRFLDOFRPPXQLFDWLRQXVLQJVRFLDOQHWZRUNVPHDQV¿UVWRI
all being able to count on a free tool” (Bernocchi, Gadotti 2011, p. 138). This is even more important if we consider that “people’s material and ¿QDQFLDOSUREOHPVDUHHVVHQWLDOLQWKHGDLO\URXWLQHDQGOLIH´9ROWHUUD-
ni, Peruzzi, 2010, p. 110) of such organizations compared to other kind RI SUR¿W +RZHYHU WKH DFFHVVLELOLW\ RI WKHVH LQVWUXPHQWV PD\ LQYROYH
an investment in terms of time and considerable human resources, and the ability to “call into question the roles and hierarchies, sometimes even the identity of the association and its members” (Volterrani, Peru-
zzi, ibid., p. 118). So the decision to go on a social network, especially for those organizations that have the task of coordinating a large number of associations, “networks of networks” – each with different stories, identities and needs - includes a thorough analysis in terms of a division between work and personal commitment:
We have a person who follows our page on Facebook, the magazine also VHUYHVDVSUHVVRI¿FHU,WLVWKHVDPHSHUVRQZKRIROORZVWKHVLWH,QL-
tiatives, ideas, press put them there as well. We are a popular association, the problem is to keep up with everything, we miss people. The commu-
nication function is very popular, everyone says that it is important, com-
munication is everything, but communication is expensive (R. Rossini, Acli Nazionale).
:KHUH KRZHYHU WKH SURIHVVLRQDO UHVRXUFHV DUH QRW VXI¿FLHQW WR FRSH
with the new needs created by the social network, the contribution of volunteers, especially younger ones, and the volunteers of the civil ser-
STEFANIA CARULLI
pag. 141
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vice becomes a valued resource to manage these spaces, though often a discontinuous one:
For me it is a great contribution to have a year of civilian service avail-
able to immerse students in the work of associations and activities in our information and communication. They are young and full of ideas, en-
thusiasm, bring human and professional contribution (G. Colmo, Auser Nazionale).
,QWHUPVRIWKHPHPEHUDVVRFLDWLRQVRIWKHQDWLRQDOQHWZRUNZHFDQ¿QG
VLJQL¿FDQWH[DPSOHVFRQFHUQLQJFRPPXQLFDWLRQ,QWKLVVWXG\ZHFRQ-
sidered only associations at the national level, but we must also look to the realities that make up the networks of association, the increas-
ingly essential subjects that make up the fabric of Italian society. Some RI WKH RUJDQL]DWLRQV WKDW GR QRW KDYH D )DFHERRN SUR¿OH RU D QDWLRQDO
RI¿FLDO<RXWXEHFKDQQHOUHO\LQIDFWRQWKHZRUNRIORFDORI¿FHVWKDW
will build a more complex organizational structure and commitment of YROXQWHHUV DFWLYHO\ XVH WKH ZHE 7KH SUR¿OHV RQ )DFHERRN ZLWK ORFDO
sources multiply and sharing of material between the coordinations of the same association located in different regions appears to have been an established practice. What is vital to note is the contribution these orga-
nizations make to the life of the on-line coordination with their stories and multiple identities, and the national levels, especially in cases where WKHLGHQWLW\RIRQOLQHµRUJDQL]DWLRQLVQRW\HWFOHDUO\GH¿QHGPXVWZRUN
WREXLOGXQL¿HGFRPPXQLFDWLRQVWUDWHJLHV
Conclusions
7KLV H[SORUDWLRQ LQWR WKH RQOLQH ZRUOG RI QRQSUR¿W VKRZV SULPDULO\
that the social capital of organizations on the web is being strengthened DQGFRQ¿UPHGZLWKWKHKHOSRIVRFLDOQHWZRUNV7KHRUJDQL]DWLRQVVWXG-
ied here lead the so-called “networks of networks”, subjects which inter-
nally consist of federations and local coordinations located throughout the country: joining social media means to manage this huge wealth of relations to a level of interconnection unpublished brings changes both inside and outside of the organizations. First, it enlarges the public, other RUJDQL]DWLRQVWKDWDUHSDUWRIWKHFRRUGLQDWLRQDVWKHQRQSUR¿WVHFWRU
and consolidates the practices of collaboration. Secondly, the presence on social networks leads to new ways of storytelling, with styles and languages more open to the characteristics of social media, and helps to underline important social issues. The effects of social media on the internal relations are equally important because, on the one hand, lead to a redistribution of professional resources in the communication, on WKH RWKHU KDQG OHDG WKH RUJDQL]DWLRQV WR UHÀHFW RQ WKH FRPPXQLFDWLRQ
VWUDWHJLHVIRUEHWWHUUHSUHVHQWLQJWKHGLYHUVL¿HGXQLYHUVHRIWKHQRQSUR¿W
sector.
STEFANIA CARULLI
pag. 142
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PIC-AIS
7DE7KHQRQSUR¿WRUJDQLVDWLRQVPHPEHUVRIWKH&RQVXOWDSHULO9RORQWDULDWR
presso il Forum del Terzo Settore
Organisations
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. ACLI. Associazioni cristiane lavoratori italiani
ADA. Associazione per i diritti degli anziani
ADICONSUM. Associazione difesa consumatori e ambiente AICS. Associazione italiana cultura e sport
ANBIMA. Associazione Nazionale delle Bande Italiane Musicali Autono-
me, dei Gruppi Corali e della Musica Popolare Italiana
ANCC COOP. Associazione Nazionale Cooperative di Consumatori - Coop
ANCESCAO. Associazione Nazionale Centri sociali, Comitati anziani e Orti
ANOLF. Associazione Nazionale Oltre Le Frontiere
ANFFAS.Associazione Nazionale Famiglie di persone con disabilità intel-
lettiva e/o relazionale
ANPAS. Associazione Nazionale Pubbliche Assistenze
ANTEAS. Associazione nazionale terza età attiva per la solidarietà
ARCI. Associazione Ricreativa e Culturale Italiana
ARCIRAGAZZI. Associazione nazionale di promozione sociale giovani bambini gioco diritti partecipazione
AUSER. Associazione per l’autogestione dei servizi e la solidarietà
AVIS. Associazione volontari italiani sangue
Confederazione Nazionale delle Misericordie d’Italia
FENALC. Federazione Italiana liberi Circoli
FIDAS. Federazione Italiana Associazioni Donatori di Sangue
FISH. Federazione Italiana per il Superamento dell’Handicap
FOCSIV volontari nel mondo. Federazione Organismi Cristiani Servizio Internazionale Volontario
Legambiente
MCL. Movimento Cristiano lavoratori
MoVI. Movimento di Volontariato Italiano
TCI. Touring club Italia
Turisport Europe
UISP. Unione Italiana sport per tutti
UNICEF Italia. Comitato Italiano per l’UNICEF - Onlus
References
Bernocchi R.;; Gadotti G. (2011), Le nuove frontiere della comunicazione sociale nell’epoca dei social network, in Cucco E., Pagani R., Pasquali M., Soggia A. (a cura di), Secondo rapporto sulla comunicazione socia-
le, Roma, Carocci
Bosco, N. (2005), /DIRUPDGHOO¶DFTXDVSXQWLGLULÀHVVLRQHVXOODFRPX-
nicazione sociale, in Cucco E., Pagani R., Pasquali M. (a cura di), Primo rapporto sulla comunicazione sociale, Roma, Eri-Rai
De Sandre I. (2008), &RQGLYLVLRQHGLYDORULHFRQÀLWWRWUDPRGHOOLGLVR-
lidarietà, in Bertolo C. (a cura di),Comunicazioni sociali, Padova, Cleup
Daahlgren P. (2009), Media and political engagement: citizens, commu-
STEFANIA CARULLI
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PIC-AIS
QLFDWLRQDQGGHPRFUDF\, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Donati, P.;; Colozzi, I. (2006), 7HU]RVHWWRUHHYDORUL]]D]LRQHGHOFDSLWDOH
sociale in Italia: luoghi e attori, Milano, Franco Angeli
Faccioli, F. (2000), Comunicazione pubblica e cultura del servizio. Mo-
delli, attori, percorsi, Roma, Carocci
Gadotti, G. (a cura di) (2001), La comunicazione sociale, Milano, Arci-
pelago Edizioni
Gadotti, G. (2005), Gli attori e i temi della comunicazione sociale, in Cucco E., Pagani R., Pasquali M. (a cura di), Primo rapporto sulla co-
municazione sociale, Roma, Eri-Rai
Jenkins, H. (2006), Convergence culture, New York, New York Universi-
ty Press (trad. it. Cultura convergente, Milano, Apogeo, 2007)
Magatti, M. (2005), Il potere istituente della società civile, Bari, Laterza
Mancini, P. (1999), Manuale della comunicazione pubblica, Bari, Later-
za
Morcellini, M.;; Mazza, B. (a cura di) (2008), Oltre l’individualismo. Co-
municazione, nuovi diritti, capitale sociale, Milano, Franco Angeli
Peruzzi G. (2011), Fondamenti di comunicazione sociale. Diritti, media, solidarietà, Roma, Carocci
Peruzzi, G.;; Volterrani, A. (2010), 'DLO\OLIHRIQRQSUR¿WRUJDQLVDWLRQ-
sinhabiting the web, Journal of sociocybernetics, 7, 107-120
Springhetti;; P. (2008), Solidarietà indifesa. L’informazione nel sociale, Bologna, Emi
Volterrani, A. (a cura di) (2006), Raccontare il volontariato, Quaderni Cesvot, n. 29, Firenze, Cesvot
Volterrani, A. (2011), Saturare l’immaginario, Roma, Exòrma
Waters R;; Jones R. (2011), 8VLQJYLGHRWREXLOGDRUJDQL]DWLRQ¶VLGHQWLW\
DQG EUDQG FRQWHQWDQDO\VLV RI QRQ SUR¿W RUJDQL]DWLRQV¶ <RXWXEHYLGHRV, -RXUQDORI1RQSUR¿W3XEOLF6HFWRU0DUNHWLQJ
STEFANIA CARULLI
pag. 144
RIVISTA
PICALL FOR PAPERS 3HUFRQGLYLGHUHULÀHVVLRQLHLQWHJUDUHLWHPLGHOOD5LYLVWD
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N°3 – 2013
ISSN 2036-9700

rivista - Index of - Associazione Italiana di Sociologia

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