Social media and gender violence: Communication strategies for a “new education”

This study investigates the role of social media in cultural awareness-raising and engagement in the struggle against gender violence. The study was conducted using a quantitative/qualitative analysis approach of around 20 Italian social websites-platforms-pages dealing with the phenomenon of femicide. The analysis considers three main indicators: presence of Web spaces for awareness-raising (e.g. advertising campaigns, contest); the existence of Web channels and participatory tools targeting the achievement of shared objectives and projects (e.g. signatures, online petitions); activation of online educational courses (e.g. information-based pages on the themes and terms of gender-based violence, creation of “pedagogical” and comparative spaces). The study sought to detect the extent to which the opportunities offered by new technologies in terms of social channel use, the viral spread of messages, and even the capacity to create new spaces for shared reflection, actually have an educational/pedagogical purpose rather than a merely awareness-raising or mobilization function.