Online Cultural Partecipation in Italy. The Role of Digital Media across Generations

1. ONLINE CULTURAL
PARTICIPATION IN ITALY
THE ROLE OF DIGITAL MEDIA ACROSS GENERATIONS
24th July 2020 – HCI International 2020
Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome

2. BACKGROUND
§ A generation is the product of sharing both the
same temporal collocation and a framework, a
cultural circle (Corsten 1999).
§ Media play a central role in creating a we sense
(Bude, 1997)
§ People use the Internet for a wide range of
cultural purposes (Eurostat 2019)
§ There is a correspondence between age cohorts
and media use
§ Digital technologies generate «new opportunities
for cultural distinction, segmentation, and hence
inequality» (Mihelj et al. 2019, p. 2).

3. BACKGROUND
§ A generation is the product of sharing both the
same temporal collocation and a framework, a
cultural circle (Corsten 1999).
§ Media play a central role in creating a we sense
(Bude, 1997)
§ People use the Internet for a wide range of
cultural purposes (Eurostat 2019)
§ There is a correspondence between age cohorts
and media use
§ Digital technologies generate «new opportunities
for cultural distinction, segmentation, and hence
inequality» (Mihelj et al. 2019, p. 2).

4. BACKGROUND
§ 72% of European citizens used the
internet to watch TV or online
video and to read news sites or
online newspapers.
§ 56% listened to online music.
§ 33% played on the web or
downloaded games from the
internet (Eurostat 2019)
§ In Italy, 81.4% of the population
regularly used the internet for
recreational or cultural activities
(ISTAT-FUB, 2018).

5. BACKGROUND
§ A generation is the product of sharing both the
same temporal collocation and a framework, a
cultural circle (Corsten 1999).
§ Media play a central role in creating a we sense
(Bude, 1997)
§ People use the Internet for a wide range of
cultural purposes (Eurostat 2019)
§ There is a correspondence between age cohorts
and media use
§ Digital technologies generate «new opportunities
for cultural distinction, segmentation, and hence
inequality» (Mihelj et al. 2019, p. 2).

6. § Tv watching and newspapers reading
concentrated in the mature age
groups (65-74 years)
§ Radio listening among adults (35-44
years)
§ Web use among teenagers (15-19 years)
BACKGROUND
(ISTAT 2019)

7. 73.6
86.1
76.9
51.9
10.4
NET GEN.
(1996-2010)
MILLENNIALS
(1981-1995)
TRANSITION
GENERATION
(1966-1980)
BABY
BOOMERS
(1966-1980)
RECONSTRUCTION
GENERATION
(1966-1980)
REGULAR USE OF THE INTERNET IN ITALY
(ISTAT 2019)

8. BACKGROUND
§ A generation is the product of sharing both the
same temporal collocation and a framework, a
cultural circle (Corsten 1999).
§ Media play a central role in creating a we sense
(Bude, 1997)
§ People use the Internet for a wide range of
cultural purposes (Eurostat 2019)
§ There is a correspondence between age cohorts
and media use
§ Digital technologies generate «new opportunities
for cultural distinction, segmentation, and hence
inequality» (Mihelj et al. 2019, p. 2).

9. § Clear relationship between
generation group, level of
educational attainment, gender
and online cultural participation
BACKGROUND

10. OBJECTIVES
§ To reconstruct online cultural
practices of members of different
cohorts co-present in Italy
§ To answer the research question:
Are digital technologies enablers of a
wider and more diverse online
cultural participation, or do they
reproduce existing inequalities
characteristic of offline cultural
participation?

11. METHOD
§ Secondary analysis on ISTAT microdata
from the last edition of Leisure Time
Survey-LTS
§ Sub-sample = 30.542 respondents
§ 3 generation cohorts in Italy
§ Baby Boomers (born between 1941 and 1960)
§ Generation X (born between 1961 and 1980)
§ Generation Y (born between 1981 and 2001)
§ Multiple correspondence analysis
(MCA)
§ Cluster analysis (CA)

12. 90
76
41.1
GENERATION Y GENERATION X BABY-BOOMERS
RESULTS: USE OF THE INTERNET (v.%)

13. 82.5
68.8
37.5
GENERATION X
RESULTS: USE OF THE PC (v.%)
GENERATION Y BABY-BOOMERS

14. 36.8
16.2
4.8
GENERATION X
RESULTS: HIGH LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE
IN USING THE INTERNET (v.%)
GENERATION Y BABY-BOOMERS

15. Data: Istat, Leisure Time Survey-LTS (I cittadini e il tempo libero), 2015
CONTINGENCY TABLE: SELF-PERCEPTION OF COMPETENCE
LEVEL (USE OF THE INTERNET) * SEX * GENERATION COHORT

16. MULTIPLE CORRISPONDENCE ANALYSIS

17. § VORACIOUS ONLINE CULTURAL PARTICIPANTS
(20.4%) - Generation Y.
§ INTERESTED ONLINE CULTURAL PARTICIPANTS
(21.2%) - Generation X
§ PARSIMONIOUS ONLINE CULTURAL PARTICIPANTS
(31%) - Generation X
§ DIGITAL DISENGAGED (27.4%) - Baby-boomers
CLUSTER ANALYSIS

18. § Participation gap
§ Polarization between those ʻengagedʼ
and ʻdisengagedʼ with culture
§ Online cultural vitality as effect of
familiarity and interest in ICTs
§ Education enabler of online cultural
engagement
CONCLUSIONS

19. CONCLUSIONS
The Italian non-participant remains
«disproportionately female, elderly, lower
income [and educated] and rural» (Council of
Europe, 2018, pp. 13-14)

20. THANK YOU
paola.panarese@uniroma1.it