“Between fake and fuck news I’ll explain how social networks work (and how we work within social networks)”

Meeting Francesco Oggiano in a bar in Milan. One of those who discreetly welcome the digital nomads, which with laptop and connection can work anywhere. The idea of ​​chatting in person in a club came to me after reading that the author of SociAbility. How social media are changing the way we inform ourselves and do activism (Piemme) often frequents them (so much so that the book is attacked). Writing in a crowded bar is something that Charles Bukowski did or, playing at home, Andrea Pinketts. Great observers and storytellers, who in the bars – social ante literam – they found insights into human nature to tell. Exactly as happens today sui social networkwhere the storytellers have become millions and there is always something that deserves to be shared.

Longtime journalist, formerly in the editorial board of Vanity Fair until some time ago, today Francesco Oggiano is a freelance, author of the very popular newsletter Digital Journalist (if you don’t know her, subscribe here) and well-known face of WILL, news channel born on Instagram. A demonstration that even on the social where Clear Ferragni he has built an empire, made up of poses, sequins and ostentation, there is also room for information and study.

Why also social media are digital “creatures” in constant flux, which are born for a purpose and evolve by incorporating new ones. It happened with Instagram, ditto with Facebook and it’s happening now with TikTok, opening up new scenarios and some questions: why does anger seem to have become the prevailing mood online? How global campaigns spread on social media were born and then became movements such as Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo? Why are stars and influencers becoming the new reference points also on social, political and environmental issues and how is digital activism changing business and politics? Questions that become central on SociAbilitya brilliant essay that explores a territory that Oggiano has frequented from the “dawn of the internet” made up of third-person feeds, up to the present day, where the emotional wave seems to overwhelm everything, a gigantic mare magnum in which it is easy to get lost, without a compass.

Where did the idea for the book come from?
“I wanted to share in-depth tools for those who are on social media every day, not necessarily for insiders. It arises from the awareness that there is also a censorship from below. We have always had censorship from above: a politician who asks you to put his statements in an article, the boss who asks you to say a certain thing even if you disagree, company X asking you to publish the press release. Now, for the first time, there is the fear of censorship from below, that is, we ourselves who are afraid that our post is not aligned with the controversy of the day, with the dominant thought; in practice that it can cause us damage, understood as loss of credibility, consent or strong dissent in the case of shitstorm. It always happens from journalists, but also from normal users. This is why we are always at a crossroads between indignation as an end in itself and curiosity in wanting to deepen ».

Talk about fuck news. Can you tell us what they are?
«They are incomplete news, which take away some details or the context. Of the “pieces” of facts that make you indignant. Indignation is among the ingredients that make the news viral. Sociological studies have shown that the emotion that is transmitted the most is not happiness but anger and when we see something that makes us indignant we turn on and want to do something, and on social networks the first thing is to share or comment “.

One of the exercises you push to do is to look at the Facebook feed in search of what we posted in the past. Have we changed or the means that give us visibility?
“Social networks have changed a lot. Instagram first of all: from the place where you went to forget the world to a place where we can discover it. From the place where all the photos were aesthetically perfect, to the stage where you started posting blurry and dark photos. There is neither a positive nor a negative evolution. All social networks are like this, when they become adults they expand to various sectors, to verticalize on passions. TikTok too: before it was just ballet, now it has become very vertical. If you like DIY, there is a world, so if you like model making or whatever. It is the leap to become a mass social network “.

With your book I discovered that there is an “alt (ernative) TikTok”. In addition to this, what should we expect from the Chinese social network?
«It is the one that grows the most, even in forecasts. It is the least social, as developers want to go beyond being a social. It is true that there are comments and likes, but there is not a lot of interaction, much less sharing. There are no controversies of the day. The developers don’t want to make the mistake of becoming a megaphone on fake news or the controversy of the day like Facebook did. It simply wants to be a vehicle of happiness and positivity. For this they are reducing the interactions. It is a television managed by a perfect algorithm, tailored to your preferences and with a very fast mode of use. In an hour you can get to see 800 videos. In this quantity, the algorithm offers you things that you like, but many other things that you didn’t know you liked. And so in this way you can discover many things. From the do-it-yourself wizard to how to make the perfect coffee ».

You also talk about activism and clickactivism. What separates them?
«There are various types of solidarity, as Jia Tolentino writes: civil and political. The Internet has led to “identity solidarity”, that is, I show you my solidarity by simply bringing my story, “my internet self.” We have discovered that being solidarity and showing our virtues, that is, yes I am good and compassionate, I can earn money on the internet. And therefore the indignation can be capitalized. It pays. There are people who by profession are angry. They define themselves as activists even if they don’t do any activity, committed even if they don’t have who knows what commitments. Activism has always presupposed an activity, but it is also true that on social networks you do activism on different scales: we start with like, we move from sharing to creating content. We must therefore be careful, especially when it comes to creators, to what activism is and what is performance. Performactivism is the crasis between performance and activism, that is, a person who shows himself committed – even without risking anything – just wants to convey his personal brand to capitalize on it. The question is, are you risking something? Otherwise it’s a generic thing, like, I want world peace ».

We often discuss the ability of social media to bring out the worst in us. Have you ever wondered if the world with social media is a better place?
“It is neither better nor worse. Social media amplify good and bad information, that of clickbait. Surely it has empowered the reader, who must be a bit of a journalist, a bit of an investigator. We will be increasingly called to choose between simplification and complexity, indignation as an end in itself and ideas, mere symbols and action, the illusion of perfection and humanity, narcissism and curiosity. It is on these choices that the future of information, democracy and social life largely depend ”.

Since the world of information is central to the book, due to the fact that social media has been a tsunami for the media. From the boom era to 2001, when manhood took over. Do you think we are more informed with the advent of social media?
«The answer is not unique; depends. Before, if you read the newspapers you were much more informed than those who only inquired about the news on TV. Social media today have promoted many in-depth formats, whether they are podcasts, documentaries, videos. If we are interested, yes, we are much more informed thanks to a greater choice of content. It is also true that nothing has been invented: social networks are amplifying old formats that are back in the limelight: the podcast is nothing more than an audio-story and the video on YouTube is the old documentary. With the difference that these formats arrive to the user automatically. Example: I’m on Spotify and while I’m listening to music, the algorithm offers me Barbero’s lesson. Today, in the same environment where it is entertainment is also found infotainment“.

War catalyzes and cannibalizes all other topics. It is the first war told massively on social media and the opposing sides are sharpening their social weapons. How can social media play an active role in the war?
“Millions of Ukrainians have done the most trivial thing: to film with their mobile phones and share the Russian invasion with the world. They have been called David’s army fighting Goliath Putin. TikTok proved to be the perfect platform for these videos, and discovered its “almost” vocation, the possibility of making news, with sensational and lively videos. War videos with the #Ukrain hashtag have been viewed 23 billion times and without these videos there would not have been all the indignation of the Western world. On the other hand, Putin’s propaganda is not working and the fear that social networks can amplify indignation and internal dissent is concrete, so much so as to push Putin to close the social networks. Then there are the operations that the propaganda is doing with the Russian social networks and TikToker, which turned out to be a flop. The most striking are 16 influencer who made a video explaining the Russian reasons for the war. They all played the same script, written on purpose. The propaganda has revealed all its weakness ».

Yours is a book that answers questions about how social media have changed our lives. Did you reflect on how much they have changed it for you, on a personal level?
“Much. There is one thing I have noticed. You felt like you had a beautiful day, with some beautiful things that happened. But not much has happened on social media, and you almost seem incomplete. As far as I’m concerned, it has certainly changed, not for the better: the 2 hours of scrolling a day are lost time, subtracted from more important things. Personally, I am committed to removing notifications from my mobile phone, to be more present, limiting distractions. But I’m not a champion of good intentions ».