Monografie by Elisabetta Locatelli
Che cos’è un blog? Oggi probabilmente la risposta è scontata ma c’è stato un momento in cui quest... more Che cos’è un blog? Oggi probabilmente la risposta è scontata ma c’è stato un momento in cui questo vocabolo è suonato nuovo agli internauti. Primi fra gli strumenti “2.0” della rete, i blog hanno costituito un passaggio centrale nella trasformazione delle pratiche comunicative degli utenti web. Essi si presentano come un artefatto modellato da istanze tecno-sociali dal cui intreccio nel corso del tempo sono emersi assetti diversi fino al consolidamento di uno standard. Si tratta di un artefatto digitale particolare che consente di costruire al contempo forme di espressione personale e di relazione sociale. Il volume raccoglie i risultati di un percorso di ricerca sociale qualitativa sui blogger italiani proponendosi di ricostruire la storia sociale del blog in Italia tracciando un percorso che si snoda dall’inizio degli anni Duemila e si proietta verso il futuro. Il volume si completa con una forte componente interpretativa che si consolida nei temi chiave della ricerca sociale sui media digitali (comunicazione mediata da computer, identità, memoria, comunità) e in paradigmi quali il Social Shaping of Technology.
Papers by Elisabetta Locatelli
AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research, 2021
This paper presents the results of a study that investigated how local health authorities (LHAs) ... more This paper presents the results of a study that investigated how local health authorities (LHAs) located in the most impacted areas by Covid-19 of Lombardy (North of Italy) answered to the challenges imposed by the pandemic through their official Facebook pages during the early weeks of the emergency (January-March 2020). The goal is to understand how the logics of social media affected LHAs’ communication, representing an opportunity for health institutions to enter a new phase of information diffusion and relations with stakeholders and layperson, but also a mean of constraints due to their algorithmic logics and limits of access. The originality of the approach is that, in order to understand the relationship between social media and local health authorities, the theoretical framework hybridizes health communication theories and social media studies. Empirical results showed that LHAs’ communication on Facebook was affected by the logics of programmability and popularity, and als...
Il mondo della comunicazione d\u2019impresa \ue8 in rapida evoluzione: nuovi mezzi di comunicazio... more Il mondo della comunicazione d\u2019impresa \ue8 in rapida evoluzione: nuovi mezzi di comunicazione, nuove piattaforme, nuovi device e nuovi formati si stanno diffondendo rapidamente grazie alla digitalizzazione. Un\u2019evoluzione che si lega fortemente a una nuova concezione del rapporto tra brand e consumatore, dove la dimensione relazione, performativa e comunicativa \ue8 importante almeno quanto la \u201csemplice\u201d vendita del prodotto e del servizio. A tali innovazioni di tipo tecnologico, economico e culturale si affianca anche una evoluzione del mercato del lavoro, con la nascita e la ridefinizione di numerose fi gure professionali del mondo della comunicazione d\u2019impresa e la richiesta di nuove competenze. La ricerca di ALMED \u2013 Alta Scuola in Media, Comunicazione e Spettacolo dell\u2019Universit\ue0 Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, attraverso 22 interviste a testimoni privilegiati, si \ue8 posta l\u2019obiettivo di comprendere come, sotto la spinta della rivoluzione digitale, da un lato le fi liere produttive e le fi gure professionali si stanno riorganizzando e dall\u2019altro come cambiano le competenze richieste ai differenti profi li di professionisti
La scelta di pensare l'estetica con riferimento diretto allo spettacolo e ai media nasce dall... more La scelta di pensare l'estetica con riferimento diretto allo spettacolo e ai media nasce dalla convinzione che gran parte della nostra esperienza attuale si articola nelle intersezioni tra questi due piani. Il volume si interroga su ci\uf2 che oggi significa il rinnovato incontro con opere o artefatti, elaborati a partire da territori specifici: cinema, teatro, videoarte, fotografia, musica, web. Il percorso proposto muove dal concetto di spettacolo, esaminato nelle tematiche relative al rapporto attore-spettatore e al godimento estetico, per approdare alla questione dell'entrata in campo di nuove modalit\ue0 di esperienza mediale ed espressiva, avvalendosi di analisi puntuali di forme specifiche di spettacolo e di produzione tecnica e artistica in contesti specifici ben definiti. Particolare attenzione \ue8 dedicata ai binomi "finzione-realt\ue0" e "virtuale-reale" - luoghi elettivi di messa in scena che coinvolgono l'attore, lo spettatore e, non da ultimo, l'utente dei nuovi media - e anche alle implicazioni etiche e politiche delle nuove esperienze mediali. Il lettore ha a disposizione un itinerario attraverso l'esperienza mediale e spettacolare contemporanea. Esperienza reimpostata radicalmente dalle nuove tecnologie e teatro di mutazioni percettive e comunicative, ma, proprio per questo, fonte di produzione creativa in continua espansione
The chapter focuses on the results of 20 qualitative in-depth interviews of artists selected amon... more The chapter focuses on the results of 20 qualitative in-depth interviews of artists selected among the finalists and winners of the Terna Prize. It analyzes how artists perceive themselves, the path they follow to promote their artworks and the role that media, social network sites, and communication have in their work
Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies, 2021
Over the past few years, public health organizations have adopted new communication practices, su... more Over the past few years, public health organizations have adopted new communication practices, such as social media communication, framed by the concepts of Health 2.0 and Medicine 2.0. These concepts need to be reconsidered in the light of the transformation of social media as digital platforms. This article aims to define and critically discuss the concept of the platformization of healthcare communication, investigating the impact of social media incorporation on the local health authorities’ Facebook communication during the early phase of the COVID-19 emergency in Italy. Findings show the progressive incorporation of the mechanisms of platformization by local health authorities and the progressive shift of their Facebook pages from connectors to complementors of healthcare communication and services during the early phase of the pandemic. Conclusions critically discuss the incorporation of social media into the communication strategies of the public healthcare sector.
Journal of Sociocybernetics, 2021
In recent years, digital influencers or digital opinion leaders have emerged as a global phenomen... more In recent years, digital influencers or digital opinion leaders have emerged as a global phenomenon, one providing a rich field of investigation for several disciplines from sociology to marketing. The goal of the paper is to study this phenomenon by adopting an ecological approach, not focusing only on a single dimension but observing the influencer system as an environment with its own rules and subjects, examining the other components of the system and tracing the relationships between them. The original contribution of this paper is to conceptualize influencers as socio-technical actors, i.e. as social subjects that operate within technological platforms, and to adopt an interdisciplinary approach, starting from sociological and marketing studies on the influencer phenomenon and then moving on to STS studies that have focused on the social shaping of technology to shed light on how the influencers are transforming the (social) media system in which they are inserted and then the...
SOCIOLOGIA DELLA COMUNICAZIONE, 2016
La digitalizzazione delle relazioni sociali operata dai social media e dalla rete, ha parzialment... more La digitalizzazione delle relazioni sociali operata dai social media e dalla rete, ha parzialmente rinnovato le regole attraverso cui si attribuisce fiducia a un interlocutore e il modo in cui queste vengono applicate sia nelle relazioni sociali sia nello scambio di beni. Nell’articolo si presenta l’analisi empirica di un luogo privilegiato di osservazione: i gruppi di auto aiuto di soggetti che hanno subito truffe online. La descrizione del momento in cui la fiducia viene carpita o tradita, infatti, consente di mettere in luce meccanismi attraverso cui e stata costruita e accordata. I risultati mostrano come siano cruciali competenza e benevolenza, ma anche l’uso di specifiche piattaforme che avvicinano in modo familiare gli interlocutori.
International Journal of Learning and Media, 2012
In contemporary societies communications technologies are constantly evolving under the pressure ... more In contemporary societies communications technologies are constantly evolving under the pressure of digital innovation. Devices and software that allow learning, mediated communications, and the consumption of cultural products always, everywhere, and on every device are multiplying. OssCom (Centro di Ricerca sui Media e la Comunicazione) analyzed the cross-media practices of young Italians, the mediated communication activities of young digital users, the cross-media activities of Italian kids, and social networking use among Italians. The article presents these qualitative studies with a specific attention to the integration of different qualitative research methods—face-to-face interviews, “expanded ethnographies,” participatory methods—and the challenge of harmonizing qualitative research and the large social database retrievable from social networking software. The article describes how these methods can add layers to our understanding of young digital users’ practices that cross the boundaries of on...
AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research
Smart speakers are one the latest products of platforms and have the capability to quickly connec... more Smart speakers are one the latest products of platforms and have the capability to quickly connect platforms, algorithms, people, and households together. The frame of $2 was developed to understand the agency of platforms (corporations based on technological infrastructures guided by algorithms) that have influence on the whole society itself. We can argue, thus, that smart speakers can be conceptualized as devices that objectify the logics of platform society into households because they are produced and programmed by a platform that provides also the operating system and the personal assistant installed, becoming an extension of the platform itself. Due to the fast diffusion of smart speakers, there is the need to investigate their adoption process and user’s perception of algorithmic selection and data processing. The research here presented was one of the first about the subject in Italy and studied the diffusion of smart speakers in Italy with a multi-sided methodology. It let...
Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies, 2021
Over the past few years, public health organizations have adopted new communication practices, su... more Over the past few years, public health organizations have adopted new communication practices, such as social media communication, framed by the concepts of Health 2.0 and Medicine 2.0. These concepts need to be reconsidered in the light of the transformation of social media as digital platforms. This article aims to define and critically discuss the concept of the platformization of healthcare communication, investigating the impact of social media incorporation on the local health authorities’ Facebook communication during the early phase of the COVID19 emergency in Italy. Findings show the progressive incorporation of the mechanisms of platformization by local health authorities and the progressive shift of
their Facebook pages from connectors to complementors of healthcare communication and services during the early phase of the pandemic. Conclusions critically discuss the incorporation of social media into the communication strategies of the public healthcare sector.
Comunicazioni Sociali, 2021
Although the platformization process has been intensively studied, a better understanding is need... more Although the platformization process has been intensively studied, a better understanding is needed of how it has affected media dynamics such as the formation of media memory. The original contribution of this paper to the research field is, thus, to highlight the interrelatedness of issues, such as media memory, social media, and the platformization process that are usually considered independently. To achieve this, three theoretical frameworks-media and memory, social media logic, and platformization-will be bridged by means of the platformization of cultural production of Nieborg and Poell with the aim of analysing the case study of the Festival di Sanremo, chosen because of its relevance to the Italian mediascape, Italian cultural memory, and social media presence. The argument will demonstrate that the ongoing process of platformization of media memory is operating in three dimensions: archive, assemblage, and ephemerality. The analysis of the case proposed will also help to highlight the fact that the platformization process is not an unavoidable end, but that there are margins of resistance to it adopting digital platforms connected to mainstream social media ones though independent of them. Issues left open are the governance and the responsibility for custody of media memories, the risk of a fragmented use of archived contents, the decontextualization of media memories, their (mis)appropriation, manipulation, he-gemonic selection, and the threat that media memory may become a commodity, reactivated only when necessary and at the mercy of social media platforms' policies.
Journal of Sociocybernetics, 2020
In recent years, digital influencers or digital opinion leaders have emerged as a global phenomen... more In recent years, digital influencers or digital opinion leaders have emerged as a global phenomenon, one providing a
rich field of investigation for several disciplines from sociology to marketing. The goal of the paper is to study this
phenomenon by adopting an ecological approach, not focusing only on a single dimension but observing the
influencer system as an environment with its own rules and subjects, examining the other components of the
system and tracing the relationships between them. The original contribution of this paper is to conceptualize
influencers as socio-technical actors, i.e. as social subjects that operate within technological platforms, and to
adopt an interdisciplinary approach, starting from sociological and marketing studies on the influencer
phenomenon and then moving on to STS studies that have focused on the social shaping of technology to shed light
on how the influencers are transforming the (social) media system in which they are inserted and then the chain of
communication industry. The argument will therefore start by reviewing the theories that address this
phenomenon and by sketching a genealogy, tracing its roots in the cultural and social context of the participatory
web and web 2.0. It will move, then, to investigate the dynamics of shaping social media platforms, reviewing the
studies that have investigated them, from the Social Shaping of Technology approach to platform studies. The
paper will apply the analysis to the Italian context, unfolding the dynamics of influence with the support of the case
study of ClioMakeUp (the leading beauty creator in Italy), examples, and grey literature from the Italian context.
In the final part, the paper will map the traces of the influencer system in Italy and the communication chain,
focusing on the processes of mutual shaping between brands, communication agencies, influencer enterprises,
regulatory bodies, media, and of course platforms. The STS approach proved to be useful in disentangling the
several actors of the system, but as platforms evolved the opportunities for mutual shaping have gradually
diminished as the balance of power seems to be tending in favor of the platforms. More research is needed to
further understand the concepts of closure, script, and relevant social groups within social media platforms.
As recent feminist studies have recognized, breastfeeding is an interesting area of investigation... more As recent feminist studies have recognized, breastfeeding is an interesting area of investigation since it encompasses several social and cultural issues involving both the private and the public sphere. These range from how motherhood is lived and interpreted, the representation of the body, how children are reared, women’s self-representation, breastfeeding support, and maternal work. The article illustrates a qualitative analysis of a sample of Instagram images tagged with breastfeeding-related words, with the aim of analyzing how breastfeeding is represented and the relationship between private and public discourses. For this reason, images coming from both mothers and breastfeeding promoters were analyzed. The analysis shows that breastfeeding representation on Instagram confirms, and also goes beyond, the common image of breastfeeding a newborn, showing toddlers’ breastfeeding or mothers pumping breastmilk. It also shows that breastfeeding may be connected with a wider approach to parenthood, based on proximity, and that children are active subjects of the decisions taken. The research indicates that the relationship between public and private discourses is an overlapping of shades. On one hand, research results showed several strategies enacted by parents for protecting their children’s privacy; on the other hand, the functions of images posted veer between fixing a private moment and creating public discourses using specific hashtags aimed, for example, at normalizing public breastfeeding or offering new types of support. Instagram appears, then, as a platform where personal choices and beliefs can flow into public discourse and a place for investigating how public discourses and social and cultural issues (such as breastfeeding promotion and representation) shape the way that breastfeeding is lived.
International Journal of Learning and Media , 2014
In contemporary societies communications technologies are constantly evolving under the pressure ... more In contemporary societies communications technologies are constantly evolving under the pressure of digital innovation. Devices and software that allow learning, mediated communications, and the consumption of cultural products always, everywhere, and on every device are multiplying. OssCom (Centro di Ricerca sui Media e la Comunicazione) analyzed the cross-media practices of young Italians, the mediated communication activities of young digital users, the cross-media activities of Italian kids, and social networking use among Italians. The article presents these qualitative studies with a specific attention to the integration of different qualitative research methods—face-to-face interviews, “expanded ethnographies,” participatory methods—and the challenge of harmonizing qualitative research and the large social database retrievable from social networking software. The article describes how these methods can add layers to our understanding of young digital users’ practices that cross the boundaries of online and offline spaces and that include entertainment, sociality, and learning activities.
Comunicazioni sociali, Jan 1, 2010
Información del artículo Mondi virtuali e mondi magici: Spunti per una rilettura del ruolo dell&#... more Información del artículo Mondi virtuali e mondi magici: Spunti per una rilettura del ruolo dell'immaginazione.
Il ruolo di Flickr e Twitter nella campagna elettorale di Obama 3 La comunicazione o la comprensi... more Il ruolo di Flickr e Twitter nella campagna elettorale di Obama 3 La comunicazione o la comprensione dei gesti è resa possibile dalla reciprocità delle mie intenzioni e dei gesti altrui, dei miei gesti e delle intenzioni leggibili nella condotta altrui. MARCEL MERLEAU-PONTY 1 La fotografia ufficiale di Barack Obama, 44° Presidente degli Stati Uniti d'America, è stata scattata con una fotocamera digitale e rilasciata sotto licenza Creative Commons 2 . Lo scatto di Pete Souza può così es-
Comunicazioni sociali, Jan 1, 2010
Información del artículo Tracce di sé in rete.: I social network fra tracciare ed essere tracciati.
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Monografie by Elisabetta Locatelli
Papers by Elisabetta Locatelli
their Facebook pages from connectors to complementors of healthcare communication and services during the early phase of the pandemic. Conclusions critically discuss the incorporation of social media into the communication strategies of the public healthcare sector.
rich field of investigation for several disciplines from sociology to marketing. The goal of the paper is to study this
phenomenon by adopting an ecological approach, not focusing only on a single dimension but observing the
influencer system as an environment with its own rules and subjects, examining the other components of the
system and tracing the relationships between them. The original contribution of this paper is to conceptualize
influencers as socio-technical actors, i.e. as social subjects that operate within technological platforms, and to
adopt an interdisciplinary approach, starting from sociological and marketing studies on the influencer
phenomenon and then moving on to STS studies that have focused on the social shaping of technology to shed light
on how the influencers are transforming the (social) media system in which they are inserted and then the chain of
communication industry. The argument will therefore start by reviewing the theories that address this
phenomenon and by sketching a genealogy, tracing its roots in the cultural and social context of the participatory
web and web 2.0. It will move, then, to investigate the dynamics of shaping social media platforms, reviewing the
studies that have investigated them, from the Social Shaping of Technology approach to platform studies. The
paper will apply the analysis to the Italian context, unfolding the dynamics of influence with the support of the case
study of ClioMakeUp (the leading beauty creator in Italy), examples, and grey literature from the Italian context.
In the final part, the paper will map the traces of the influencer system in Italy and the communication chain,
focusing on the processes of mutual shaping between brands, communication agencies, influencer enterprises,
regulatory bodies, media, and of course platforms. The STS approach proved to be useful in disentangling the
several actors of the system, but as platforms evolved the opportunities for mutual shaping have gradually
diminished as the balance of power seems to be tending in favor of the platforms. More research is needed to
further understand the concepts of closure, script, and relevant social groups within social media platforms.
their Facebook pages from connectors to complementors of healthcare communication and services during the early phase of the pandemic. Conclusions critically discuss the incorporation of social media into the communication strategies of the public healthcare sector.
rich field of investigation for several disciplines from sociology to marketing. The goal of the paper is to study this
phenomenon by adopting an ecological approach, not focusing only on a single dimension but observing the
influencer system as an environment with its own rules and subjects, examining the other components of the
system and tracing the relationships between them. The original contribution of this paper is to conceptualize
influencers as socio-technical actors, i.e. as social subjects that operate within technological platforms, and to
adopt an interdisciplinary approach, starting from sociological and marketing studies on the influencer
phenomenon and then moving on to STS studies that have focused on the social shaping of technology to shed light
on how the influencers are transforming the (social) media system in which they are inserted and then the chain of
communication industry. The argument will therefore start by reviewing the theories that address this
phenomenon and by sketching a genealogy, tracing its roots in the cultural and social context of the participatory
web and web 2.0. It will move, then, to investigate the dynamics of shaping social media platforms, reviewing the
studies that have investigated them, from the Social Shaping of Technology approach to platform studies. The
paper will apply the analysis to the Italian context, unfolding the dynamics of influence with the support of the case
study of ClioMakeUp (the leading beauty creator in Italy), examples, and grey literature from the Italian context.
In the final part, the paper will map the traces of the influencer system in Italy and the communication chain,
focusing on the processes of mutual shaping between brands, communication agencies, influencer enterprises,
regulatory bodies, media, and of course platforms. The STS approach proved to be useful in disentangling the
several actors of the system, but as platforms evolved the opportunities for mutual shaping have gradually
diminished as the balance of power seems to be tending in favor of the platforms. More research is needed to
further understand the concepts of closure, script, and relevant social groups within social media platforms.
La sfida è però più radicale e profonda e ha a che fare con gli approcci metodologici che rendono possibile osservare e interpretare la realtà che scorre tra vita sociale e Rete. Dal contributo delle scienze sociali computazionali e degli Internet Studies a quello della sociologia visuale applicata ai Social Network, gli autori mostrano come sia possibile oggi innovare la ricerca sociale e tentare di dischiudere gli effetti sociali del web.
Rivolto a chi voglia capire la trasformazione in atto nel mondo della ricerca e della formazione, il volume è un valido strumento anche per quei professionisti che lavorano nella realtà televisiva e dei media audiovisivi così come nell’ambito dei consumi.
This paper will present the results of a research conducted by Osscom (Research Center on Media and Communication) and Digital PR, a public relations company, with the aim of answering to the following questions: how are companies using social media to communicate their corporate brands? Through which platforms? And how effectively are they engaging with users/consumers? Which companies are performing
better?
The first part of the presentation will then outline the research design and discuss the methodological framework, comparing it with similar research methodologies (Giglietto & Lovari, 2012). The ‘newness’ of these marketing tools, in fact, call for hybrid approaches which are not limited to purely quantitative data. Qualitative aspects are fundamental to understand the different behaviours of companies on social media, and their
integration with quantitative data has proved an effective method to integrate the brand performance with its
communicative strategy.
After identifying five relevant industry sectors (Consumer Electronics, Automobile, Banks&Insurance, Retail, Services), a panel of one hundred brands was selected in order to map their corporate profiles and to asses their performace and communicative strategies. The analysis was based on the four main social media used in Italy: blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Data was collected both through manual count of relevant metrics (supported where possible by social media metrics tools), and through an interpretative grid of relevant
qualitative dimensions. Amongst the data considered, in fact, besides number of likes, comments, fans and followers, the dimensions taken into account regarded the coherence of corporate identity, the interconnection and cross-linking of platforms, ad hoc features of profiles and the communicative strategies adopted. The combined data resulted in a score board and five different ranks.
The second part of the paper will then present the results. Besides the ranking, different communicative styles were identified within each sector: from mono to multi-platform, from extensive to intensive use, from a ‘static’ to a ‘dynamic’ approach to social media.
Lastly, the conclusions will focus on the streght and weaknesses of this methodology, on the different outputs of the research, and, lastly, on the benefits and limitations of mixing academic and business points of view within a research design and conduction.