Cyberviolenza e aspetti sociali della violenza online

The project introduce some of the main aspects of cyberviolence related to digital life, and online experience with a specific focus on young people. Cyberviolence includes violent and calculated actions carried out through electronic tools. In different situations, the perpetrator(s) can be a single person or a group, which deliberately aims to hurt or damage another who cannot defend themselves, often because the victims are initially unaware and unable to manage the problem emotionally and psychologically. Cyber-stalking, revenge porn, hate speech and cyberbullying are just some forms of online violence (cyberviolence). This project reflects on the problematic issue of cyberviolence from different perspectives including the social, psychological, and educational. The project focuses on a national empirical research on Generation Z’s perceptions and experiences of cyberviolence. This term refers to aggressive and intentional actions, carried out, through electronic tools by a single person or a group, which deliberately aim to hurt or damage another who cannot defend himself. The main aim of this study was to gather national data on cyberviolence in order to explore better how young people (aged 18–25) understand and experience this phenomenon and what maybe the most suitable actions to limit it. The data analysis explored three main issues: (1) The main platforms used by Generation Z on which cyberviolence can occur; (2) The level of knowledge and awareness that Generation Z has about the different forms of cyberviolence and their dangerousness; (3) The features of social media perceived as most dangerous by the respondents. The article also proposes a reflection on the actual level of awareness of young people about this issue and the need to consider digital literacy programmes that aim to teach young people how to analyse the media critically.