Social Media

Publications

· Gui, M. (2016). Le trasformazioni della disuguaglianza digitale tra gli adolescenti: evidenze da tre indagini nel Nord Italia, Quaderni di Sociologia, (69), 33-55.

ABSTRACT

Based on unique datasets collected by the author in three northern italian regions’ schools (˜8000 students), the article describes how youth’s family background currently relates to their Internet use practices. The results show that nowadays the only indicators that show a linear relationship with social stratification are the use of the Internet for in-depth information searching and the breadth of Internet uses carried out frequently. Other variables such as the use of social networking sites, production of online content, gaming and the time spent online seem to have become widespread irrespectively of young people’s social origins. A third set of variables, concerning how pervasive the use of one’s smartphone is in social and personal life, shows an inverse relationship with social stratification: those that are more advantaged show a lower pervasiveness. Therefore, today the digital profile of students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds is characterized by a low level of information searching, low breadth of Internet uses and high pervasivity of mobile devices. On the one hand, this poses a challenge to traditional digital inequality theory; on the other, it calls for critical education interventions to prevent addictive behaviours.

· Pagani L. Argentin G., Gui M., e Stanca L. (2016), The Impact of Digital Literacy on Educational Outcomes: Evidence from Performance Tests, Educational studies .

ABSTRACT

Digital skills are increasingly important for labour market outcomes and social participation. Do they also matter for academic performance? This paper investigates the effects of digital literacy on educational outcomes by merging data from the Italian National Assessment in secondary schools with an original data-set on performance tests of Internet skills for tenth-grade students. Our identification strategy relies on a rich set of individual, family, school and classroom control variables that are not commonly available in previous studies. The findings indicate that, overall, Internet skills have a positive impact on academic achievement. This effect is stronger for students with low academic performance or low family background. It is also stronger for students in technical or vocational schools.

· Gui M., Micheli M. e Tamanini C. a cura di (2015), I media digitali nella vita dei sedicenni delle scuole del Trentino: usi e competenze, IPRASE del Trentino, ISBN: 978-88-7702-371-1, URL http://community.formazionescuolatrentina.it/j/file_iprase/attachs/292.pdf;

· Gui M. (2014), A dieta di media. Comunicazione e qualità della vita, Bologna, Il Mulino, ISBN 978-88-15-25050-6;

ABSTRACT

Work, study, leisure, information: via computers, television, smart phones and tablets, every day we spend an enormous amount of time looking at a screen. In the digital era does there exist a real danger of "media obesity", similar to the one involving excessive food intake? The author develops this analogy and identifies four potential remedies: curbing consumption, choosing higher quality content and relationships, avoiding the perils of multi-tasking and attention loss, and carefully managing the off-line/on-line balance of personal relationships.

· Gui M., Micheli M. e Fiore B. (2014), Is the Internet creating a learning gap among students?, Italian Journal of Sociology of education 6 (1), pp. 1-24;

ABSTRACT

The notion of a digital divide between Internet haves and have-nots has now evolved into the broader concept of digital inequality. Based on this framework, people get greater or fewer opportunities from Internet use according to their cultural, social and professional resources. However, empirical research has focused mainly on the description of Internet usage between different social groups, without testing whether these differences actually translate into social inequalities. In this study we use learning outcomes as a proxy for high-school students’ future social opportunities. Using the Italian dataset of the PISA 2009 survey we test whether students from advantaged social backgrounds gain more benefits from Internet use than their less privileged counterparts. The results show that using the Internet for schoolwork does not prove to have different impacts on students’ learning outcomes depending on their social background. The challenges of these results for theories of digital inequality are discussed.

· Stanca L., Gui M. e Gallucci M. (2013), Attracted but Unsatisfied: The Effects of Sensational Content on Television Consumption Choices, Journal of Media Economics, 26 (2), 82-97;

ABSTRACT

This article investigates experimentally the effects of sensational content on viewing choices and satisfaction in television consumption. The authors found that the presence of verbal violence in one program causes subjects to watch more of that program. However, subjects do not experience higher satisfaction with the program. In addition, they report lower satisfaction with the overall viewing experience. These findings are robust to the use of different program types for the experimental manipulation. Overall, the results pose a challenge to the use of audience figures as a measure of enjoyment or satisfaction.

· Argentin G., Gui M. e Tamanini C. (2013), A scuola di competenza digitale. Il ruolo degli insegnanti nell'uso delle ICT degli studenti, Scuola Democratica (Il Mulino), 1 (1);

ABSTRACT

This article explores the association between the way teachers make use of digital media in the classroom and the level of digital skills of students. Analysis draws upon unique data coming from a survey carried out in Trentino in 2008, about the behavior of teachers with ICT and the level of digital competence of about 1,000 students from ninth grade. The results show that there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between teachers' behaviour and students' digital competence. These results suggest that teachers' attitudes towards digital media constitute an area of intervention for the promotion of digital competence among young people in schools

· Gui M, a cura di (2013), Indagine sull’uso dei nuovi media tra gli studenti delle scuole superiori lombarde, Regione Lombardia, ISBN: 9878890064265, URL http://www.lavoro.regione.lombardia.it/shared/ccurl/733/622/REPORT_Indagine_Bicocca.pdf.

· Gui M. e Stanca L. (2009), Attratti ma insoddisfatti. Perché continuiamo a guardare la TV, Consumatori Diritti e Mercato, 1, pp. 91-103;

ABSTRACT

Da alcune recenti ricerche emerge che il consumo di televisione - e più in generale dei media - è caratterizzato da una contraddizione tra l’attrattività che esercita sugli utenti e il benessere che essi ne ricavano. I sistemi di rilevamento degli ascolti, come l’Auditel, portano a premiare i programmi che massimizzano l’attrattività immediata dei contenuti, a prescindere dalla soddisfazione dei consumatori, sebbene essa venga misurata giornalmente da ricerche i cui dati sono tenuti segreti. È saggio porre rimedio al sovraconsumo di Tv.