Start
15/10/2023
End
14/10/2025
Status
In progress
From netizens to metazens. Narratives of virtual worlds and civic engagement on the metaverse
Start
15/10/2023
End
14/10/2025
Status
In progress
From netizens to metazens. Narratives of virtual worlds and civic engagement on the metaverse
The research project, funded under the PRIN 2022 scheme, investigates from a socio-cultural perspective the mainstream narratives of emerging virtual and augmented reality worlds based on the Metaverse project, announced by META CEO Mark Zuckerberg in October 2021. Starting from the literature and studies on virtual worlds and digital environments in media studies, STS, and social studies of techno-imaginaries, the project aims to trace and analyze mainstream narratives and discursive practices that co-construct the Metaverse as a technology and as a space of social interaction, analyzing the interpretations and activities of "early users" and platforms based in the Italian and in the Chinese contexts.
Publications
Hesselbein, C., Bory, P., & Canali, S. (2024). Metaverse datafication: technologies, definitions, and futures. Information, Communication & Society, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2443082
Hesselbein, C., Bory, P., & Canali, S. (2024). Six provocations for metaverse datafication: an emergent cultural, technological, and scholarly phenomenon. Information, Communication & Society, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2433548
Negro, G., & Savina, T. (2024). Yuanyuzhou 元宇宙: yesterday, today, tomorrow. Historical roots, current visions, and future dynamics of real-world integration in the Chinese governmental narrative on the Metaverse. Information, Communication & Society, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2442390