Starting from my PhD I have developed multiple research projects related to digital cultures and digital methods, mostly in collaboration with other colleagues. While most of these projects have been designed and conducted independently, some overall themes can be identified as follows:
An analysis of the relationship between users’ subjectivities and algorithms in digital platforms, in particular through the conceptualisations of the algorithmic other(Gandini et al., 2023), algorithmic public opinion (Gandini et al., 2022) and of the loop of loops (Giorgi & Gerosa, 2024).
After the global, outstanding success of the Chinese-owned TikTok in 2020, most social media platforms have adopted the short video format as their preferred way of engaging users and generat-ing content, such as Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and Facebook Watch. These videos are typically proposed to the user in dedicated sections of the platform, in the form of an endless flow of videos, categorised and distributed according to algorithmically calculated user preferences. The emergence of short videos marks a significant novelty compared to previously phases in social media led by image or textual content. Indeed, the new peculiar functioning of Tik Tok, based on memetic forms of imitation and replication rapidly adopted by other platforms, has been compared to the ‘end of the social networks’ as we knew them from the beginning of their story (The Economist, 2024). This brief piece critically discusses the algorithmically prompted recursive mechanism that underpins the ways in which social media platforms distribute visual content, and specifically short videos, to users.
Un approccio metodologico allo studio degli algoritmi di personalizzazione su TikTok.
Questo articolo riflette sugli approcci epistemologici utili allo studio degli algoritmi di personalizzazione e raccomandazione dei contenuti sui social media. A questo scopo, propone un protocollo metodologico per indagare la personalizzazione dei contenuti sulla piattaforma TikTok, basato sulla creazione di nuovi account TikTok e sull’interazione controllata con i contenuti personalizzati proposti dalla piattaforma a partire da questi due account. L’articolo riflette sulle possibilità e i limiti del protocollo proposto, offrendo indicazioni utili per lo sviluppo di metodologie di ricerca innovative adatte allo studio del funzionamento di questi strumenti.
2023
Subjectivity and algorithmic imaginaries: the algorithmic other
Despite their marginalisation during the twentieth century, artisanal production and consumption are experiencing renewed significance. This article briefly reconstructs a genealogy of the recent debate on craft, examining in particular the distinctive features of the «neo-craft economy», marked by a strong symbolic dimension and a search for authenticity. The article identifies three key tensions within today’s neo-artisanal economy: the conflict with large-scale industries seeking to exploit the symbolic value of artisanal products for profit; the material and symbolic barriers preventing substantial components of the wider population from participating in the neo-craft economy in socially recognised and legitimate ways; the impact of the neo-craft economy on urban transformations. Ultimately, the neo-craft economy appears marked by a fundamental tension inherent in its nature: it serves as a potential frontier of resistance against industrial capitalism while also being a phenomenon that potentially perpetuates economic and social inequalities.
’Tracce’ di opinione pubblica algoritmica: il caso dell’infodemia
In the context of a society where digital technologies have come to pervasively intermediate most social, cultural and economic processes, algorithms represent an important socio-technical component of ‘the social’. Unsurprisingly, algorithms also hold an important role in the formation of public opinion. The way people access news and informational content, thus forming their political and social views, is now largely mediated by social media platforms. Their algorithms represent new types of gatekeepers that contribute in decisive ways to shape individual and collective access to information. In this literature review, we discuss the most relevant research concurring to the existence of what we define as an ’algorithmic public opinion’, from an interdisciplinary perspective that brings together the sociology of media, critical algorithm studies and information design.
#BRNBQ: le estetiche della teppa urbana nella \guillemotleftpiazza digitale\guillemotright di instagram
Our contribution aims at conceptualising the notion of «memetic cult of personality», which originates from the memetic production surrounding political figures, especially during periods of intense media coverage, like that triggered by the Coronavirus outbreak. To do so, we focus on two case studies from the Italian political sphere: former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Governor of Campania Region Vincenzo De Luca, both prominent media figures during the first lockdown. Relying on digital methods for the data collection, our empirical inquiry focuses on a corpus of static image memes, memetic videos and newspaper articles collected across different platforms. By adopting a combination of automated visual analysis and discourse analysis, we demonstrate that memetic cults show some of the traits traditionally attributed to personality cults, while displaying unique features as well. At a general level, it is maintained that memetic cults are co-constructed by users participating in the collaborative practices of memetic production and circulation. Leveraging the ambiguous logic of meme culture, we also illustrate how these cults fuel doppelganger characters and alternative narratives, in which support and mockery are blended together.
’Tracce’ di opinione pubblica algoritmica: il caso dell’infodemiaIn Tracce digitali e ricerca sociologica, 2023
