In today's digital context, violence increasingly contaminates language, masquerading behind anonymity and virtual distance, which attenuate the perception of a sense of responsibility and the real impact of one's actions. The rapid evolution of communication, mediated by advanced technologies, undoubtedly opens up new possibilities, but it also paves the way for new forms of harassment and increasingly accessible tools of abuse and hatred. As highlighted by research by Amit Goldenberg (2020), “when it comes to social shares, tasteless tweets beat those with sunshine and rainbows. Although people produce much more positive content on social media in general, negative content is much more likely to spread” (Senz, 2021). This scenario is closely linked to a society that is often unprepared to deal with these threats, where erroneous narratives that blame victims and fuel intolerance prevail. In the face of this growing complexity, it becomes crucial to promote greater awareness and develop appropriate tools to effectively recognize and counter these new forms of digital violence by nurturing dialogue and conversation around the topic. This is the origin of my project opportunity and thesis, which explores the phenomenon of digital harassment, defined as any unwanted contact used to create an intimidating, annoying, frightening or even hostile environment for the victim, and which uses digital means to reach the target (cf. Lenhart et al., 2016: 8). Beginning with the exploration and analysis of numerous experiences of harassment narrated on social media, the difficulty of recognizing and dealing with such harassing conduct emerges. The central intention of the thesis thus revolves around the need to show how often actions that we do not think of as harassment, can be, and how these are closer and more common than what we think. This led to the creation of a useful tool to identify violent conduct through exploration and comparison with others' stories. Precisely from the recognition of these conducts, it becomes possible to promote a critical and attentive gaze, to create greater awareness and stimulate conversation on the topic. All of this stands as a basis for fostering positive change. The research question that guided the project is “How can communication design foster conversation toward a broad audience on the topic of online harassment through dissemination and educational artifacts designed based on sensitive data?”. This question hints at the presence of several complexities in approaching this topic and using sensitive data such as stories of users who have been victims of digital harassment. Indeed, in answering it, it was crucial to adopt a critical yet sensitive gaze: the data used are representative of a person and a voice that needs to be valued. Moreover, a critical issue that emerged concerned the desire to return an overview of the phenomenon through contextualized data, never neutral or generalized: the data therefore represent and fit into a plurality and a collectivity. Along with these design challenges comes the complexity of working with unique and intimate data with a view to creating, however, a possibly replicable design process. The answer to this question is presented through an education and outreach tool that raises awareness about the issue of online harassment by exploring the experiences of those who have experienced it. This artifact is designed as a first step to promote and push the conversation about the issue, representing it both as an individual and intimate experience and as a collective phenomenon that is all around us as a society.
Nel contesto digitale odierno, la violenza contamina sempre più il linguaggio, mascherandosi dietro l’anonimato e la distanza virtuale, che attenuano la percezione del senso di responsabilità e del reale impatto delle proprie azioni. La rapida evoluzione della comunicazione, mediata da tecnologie avanzate, apre indubbiamente nuove possibilità, ma spiana anche il percorso a nuove forme di molestie ed a strumenti di abuso e odio sempre più accessibili. Come evidenziato da una ricerca di Amit Goldenberg (2020) «quando si tratta di condivisioni sui social, i tweet di cattivo gusto battono quelli con il sole e l’arcobaleno. Sebbene le persone producano molti più contenuti positivi sui social media in generale, i contenuti negativi hanno molte più probabilità di diffondersi» (Senz, 2021). Questo scenario è strettamente connesso ad un società spesso impreparata ad affrontare queste minacce, dove prevalgono narrazioni errate che colpevolizzano le vittime e alimentano l’intolleranza. Di fronte a questa crescente complessità, diventa fondamentale promuovere maggiore consapevolezza e sviluppare strumenti adeguati per riconoscere e contrastare efficacemente queste nuove forme di violenza digitale, alimentando attorno al tema dialogo e conversazione. Da qui nasce la mia opportunità progettuale e la mia tesi, che esplora il fenomeno delle molestie digitali, definito come un qualsiasi contatto indesiderato utilizzato per creare un ambiente intimidatorio, fastidioso, spaventoso o addirittura ostile per la vittima, e che utilizza mezzi digitali per raggiungere il bersaglio (cfr. Lenhart et al., 2016: 8). A partire dall’esplorazione ed analisi di numerose esperienze di molestia raccontate sui social media, emerge la difficoltà di riconoscere e affrontare queste condotte moleste. La volontà centrale della tesi ruota dunque attorno al bisogno di mostrare come spesso le azioni che non si pensa siano una molestia, possono esserlo, e come queste siano più vicine e comuni di ciò che pensiamo. Questo ha portato alla creazione di uno strumento utile ad identificare le condotte violente tramite l’esplorazione e il confronto con storie altrui. Proprio a partire dal riconoscimento di queste condotte, diventa possibile promuovere uno sguardo critico ed attento, per creare maggiore consapevolezza e stimolare la conversazione sul tema. Tutto questo si pone come base per favorire un cambiamento positivo. La domanda di ricerca che ha guidato il progetto è “Come il design della comunicazione può favorire la conversazione verso un pubblico ampio sul tema delle molestie online tramite artefatti divulgativi ed educativi progettati sulla base di dati sensibili?”. Questa domanda lascia intravedere la presenza di diverse complessità nell’approcciare questo tema e nell’utilizzare dati sensibili quali storie di utenti vittime di molestie digitali. Nel rispondervi infatti, è stato fondamentale adottare uno sguardo critico e al contempo sensibile: i dati utilizzati sono rappresentativi di una persona e di una voce che necessita di essere valorizzata. Inoltre, una criticità emersa ha riguardato la volontà di restituire una panoramica del fenomeno tramite dati contestualizzati, mai neutri o generalizzati: i dati dunque rappresentano e si inseriscono in una pluralità ed una collettività. Insieme a queste sfide progettuali, si inserisce la complessità di lavorare con dati unici e intimi nell’ottica di creare però un iter progettuale possibilmente replicabile. La risposta a questa domanda è presentata attraverso uno strumento di educazione e divulgazione che sensibilizza riguardo al tema delle molestie online esplorando le esperienze di chi le ha subite. Questo artefatto è pensato come primo passo per promuovere e spingere la conversazione sul tema, rappresentandolo sia come esperienza individuale ed intima che come fenomeno collettivo che sta attorno a noi come società.
Storie a tasselli : voci di molestie online : progettare strumenti divulgativi per rappresentare le molestie digitali tramite le storie di chi le ha vissute
Capparelli, Noemi
2023/2024
Abstract
In today's digital context, violence increasingly contaminates language, masquerading behind anonymity and virtual distance, which attenuate the perception of a sense of responsibility and the real impact of one's actions. The rapid evolution of communication, mediated by advanced technologies, undoubtedly opens up new possibilities, but it also paves the way for new forms of harassment and increasingly accessible tools of abuse and hatred. As highlighted by research by Amit Goldenberg (2020), “when it comes to social shares, tasteless tweets beat those with sunshine and rainbows. Although people produce much more positive content on social media in general, negative content is much more likely to spread” (Senz, 2021). This scenario is closely linked to a society that is often unprepared to deal with these threats, where erroneous narratives that blame victims and fuel intolerance prevail. In the face of this growing complexity, it becomes crucial to promote greater awareness and develop appropriate tools to effectively recognize and counter these new forms of digital violence by nurturing dialogue and conversation around the topic. This is the origin of my project opportunity and thesis, which explores the phenomenon of digital harassment, defined as any unwanted contact used to create an intimidating, annoying, frightening or even hostile environment for the victim, and which uses digital means to reach the target (cf. Lenhart et al., 2016: 8). Beginning with the exploration and analysis of numerous experiences of harassment narrated on social media, the difficulty of recognizing and dealing with such harassing conduct emerges. The central intention of the thesis thus revolves around the need to show how often actions that we do not think of as harassment, can be, and how these are closer and more common than what we think. This led to the creation of a useful tool to identify violent conduct through exploration and comparison with others' stories. Precisely from the recognition of these conducts, it becomes possible to promote a critical and attentive gaze, to create greater awareness and stimulate conversation on the topic. All of this stands as a basis for fostering positive change. The research question that guided the project is “How can communication design foster conversation toward a broad audience on the topic of online harassment through dissemination and educational artifacts designed based on sensitive data?”. This question hints at the presence of several complexities in approaching this topic and using sensitive data such as stories of users who have been victims of digital harassment. Indeed, in answering it, it was crucial to adopt a critical yet sensitive gaze: the data used are representative of a person and a voice that needs to be valued. Moreover, a critical issue that emerged concerned the desire to return an overview of the phenomenon through contextualized data, never neutral or generalized: the data therefore represent and fit into a plurality and a collectivity. Along with these design challenges comes the complexity of working with unique and intimate data with a view to creating, however, a possibly replicable design process. The answer to this question is presented through an education and outreach tool that raises awareness about the issue of online harassment by exploring the experiences of those who have experienced it. This artifact is designed as a first step to promote and push the conversation about the issue, representing it both as an individual and intimate experience and as a collective phenomenon that is all around us as a society.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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2024_12_Capparelli.pdf
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Descrizione: testo della tesi
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/231325