Social Media in Southeast Italy

Front matter

Razvan Nicolescu B: ay

SOCIAL MEDIA

IN SOUTHEAST ITALY

Introduction to the series Why We Post

This book is one of a series of 11 titles. Nine are monographs devoted to specific field sites in Brazil, Chile, China, England, India, Trinidad, Turkey and this one in Italy - they will be published in 2016-17. The series also includes a comparative book about all of our findings, published to accompany the other titles, as well as a book which contrasts the visuals that people post on Facebook in the English field site, with those on the Trinidadian field site.

When we tell people that we have written nine monographs about social media around the world, and that they all have the same chapter headings (apart from Chapter 5), they are concerned about potential repetition. However, if you decide to read several of these books (which we very much hope you do), you will see that this device has been helpful in showing the precise opposite. Each book is as individual and distinct as if it were on an entirely different topic.

This is perhaps our single most important finding. Most studies of the internet and social media are based on research methods that assume we can generalise across different groups. We tend to look at tweets in one place and write about ‘Twitter’, We conduct tests about social media and friendship in one population, and then write on this topic as if friendship means the same thing for all populations. By presenting nine books with the same chapter headings, you can judge for yourselves what kinds of generalisations are, or are not, possible.

Our intention is not to evaluate social media either positively or negatively. The purpose is educational, providing detailed evidence of what social media has become in each place and the local consequences, including local evaluations.

Each book is based on 15 months of research during which time most of the anthropologists lived, worked and interacted with people, always in the local language. Yet they differ from the dominant tradition of writing social science books. Firstly, they do not engage with the academic literatures on social media. It would be highly repetitive to have viii the same discussions in all nine books. Instead discussions of these literatures are to be found in our comparative book, How the World Changed Social Media. Secondly, these monographs are not comparative, which again is the primary function of this other volume. Thirdly, given the immense interest in social media from the general public, we have tried to write in an accessible and open style. This means we have adopted a mode more common in historical writing of keeping all citations and the discussion of all wider academic issues to endnotes. If you prefer to read above the line, each text offers a simple narrative about our findings. If you want to read a more conventional academic book that relates the material to its academic context, this can be done through engaging with the endnotes.

We hope you enjoy the results, and we hope you will also read our comparative book — and perhaps some of the other monographs — in addition to this one.

INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES WHY WE POST

Acknowledgements

My wholehearted thanks go first to the wonderful people from Grano and the surrounding area for their generosity in accepting me as part of their lives and also for sharing time, thoughts and expertise with me. This book is just a small part of what I have learned from them and, while some may disagree with parts of it, I hope that overall they will find it truthful and insightful. As promised during field work, I have taken care to protect the identities of those who preferred to remain anonymous. I also changed the name of the town to Grano, which in Italian means ‘grain’ or ‘wheat’ — an everyday element, and essential source, of life. For everything that I did not do well enough in this book, I sincerely ask them to forgive me.

Secondly, I wish to thank the amazing team of the ‘Why We Post’ project: Daniel Miller, Elisabetta Costa, Nell Haines, Tom McDonald, Juliano Spier, Jolynna Sinanan, Shriram Venkrataman and Xinyuan Wang, who were joined later by Sheba Mohammed, Cassie Quarless and Laura Haapio-Kirk. They were, and will continue to be, a constant source of inspiration and motivation. We all have learned from each other what collaborative and comparative anthropology can mean and what spectacular results it brings. The merit is primarily due to Professor Daniel Miller who astutely mobilised us to think and act in a way that was beneficial and rewarding to us and to the discipline.

I would now like to name those who helped me most during the field research, with work as research assistants, by offering constant advice and directions or by treating me with hospitality and generosity: Marina De Giorgi, Raffaella Quaranta, Gabriele Quaranta, Manuela Baglivo, Ornella Ricchiuto, Giuseppe Ricchiuto, Anna Lena Manca, Maria Grazia Bello, Anna Rita Aniceto, Santo De Giorgi, Maria Luisa Planteda, Mary Cortese, Cosimo Cortese, Alfredo Elia, Luana Morciano, Agnese Branca, Agostino and Lina, Pina Scarcella, Agnese Dell’Abate, Biagino Bleve, Barbara Maisto and family, Rolando Civilla and family, Alfredo De Giuseppe and so many dear friends I gained while staying in Grano.

I also wish to thank Ugo Fabietti and University Milano-Bicocca for granting me the ethical permit to research in Italy; to Elisabetta Costa for easing this process; and to Roberta Sassatelli for her valuable comments on my preliminary field report. For the elaboration of this book I am indebted to all my colleagues in the ‘Why We Post’ project for commenting on different sections; to Daniel Miller for reviewing an earlier draft; to Joy Kirk, Chris Penfold from UCL Press and an anonymous reviewer for reviewing the entire manuscript; and to Oana Michael, Gabriela Nicolescu, David Ferguson and Trevor Williams for revising different chapters. Shriram Venkatraman helped me with statistical data and graphs, and Bogdan Maran and Gabriela Nicolescu helped with visual materials. As always, I am indebted to the virtuosity of Professor Vintila Mihailescu for inspiring me in how to look at the world and anthropology.

This research was equally the product of the attentiveness and scholarship of anthropologist Gabriela Nicolescu, my wife, who postponed her own work for more than a year to accompany me in the field. She ended up making many more friends than I did; helping me significantly during research, including with filmmaking; starting her own research project; and also reviewing this manuscript. To her, this book goes with love.

The research was funded by the European Research Council (grant ERC-2011-AdG-295486 Socnet).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS