Of Ivano Zoppi, Secretary General of the Carolina Foundation
Downstream of the last tragedy that brings back the complex relationship between young people and web to the chronicles, the question we have to ask is: What drives us to expose ourselves in this way on social networks? To give anyone the opportunity to know us comment, judge?
Perhaps the answer is precisely here: we really need this, of the judgment of others. And perhaps, at the beginning, we don’t care that it is positive or negative, What we really need is to be looked at, seen, “shared”. We want confirmation of our existence. Then when the weight of the negative judgments awakens us, it brings us back to reality, it is then, at that moment, that we can no longer hold the pressure because we do not have the resources to resist.
To be seen, today, unfortunately passes through the network, the only space in which too often this is possible: to receive a confirmation of what we think of ourselves, of what others think of us, if it really is “right” what we want for our lives.
We are so terribly attached to this principle, so frightened by being able to compare ourselves with someone in reality, as to take refuge in a daily life that we think we can manage, but that in reality trap us in a network much more subtle than the digital one. A future of human relationships, made of chatter, petulance and accidents, which promises to welcome us like a plain, but which proves to be a swamp for our emotions.
The reality is that in any area or size we want to allocate our dreams, expectations, enthusiasm, the right foundations must first be built. Respect, empathy and values such as loyalty, inclusion, transparency and sincerity are fundamental conditions for welcoming the fragility, fears and hopes that accompany any journey. The journey to discover ourselves, our dreams or in our identity. As in the case of this Lombardy boy, who only fault that he had to expose himself.
Here, we understood once again that telling each other, opening up to others, in this world it represents a risk, an error. We have to accept it, By teaching our kids the importance of protecting themselves, of managing their fragility as a prezios gema, that we cannot entrust to the first follower on duty. Yet in this sad awareness a consideration emerges. And all those who buddle it, devalue it and scratch it? Do we really have to accept all this? To what extent my freedom of “expression” can be pushed? From which pulpit do we arrogate the right to relate to others how we were the judges of a television talent?
During the history, countless philosophers, sociologists and writers have dedicated years of commitment, works and research to answer these questions. Today it would be enough to stop for a moment, detach the finger from the keyboard and move the gaze: from the screen to the mirror. What if it happens to you?
