Conference Program

Products incorporated into transmedia brands (such as television programs, TV series, films, video games, apps, and character-based toys) increasingly influence children, pre-teens, and adolescents by proposing universes of meaning, models of gender and behavior that have a significant impact on audiences. The aim of this study is to analyze the transformations of the Disney transmedia franchise "Aladdin", from the creation of the first film (1992) to today, passing, in particular, through the live-action version of the film (2019). Through qualitative research based on the content analysis of a sample of transmedia products, the study aims to analyze, in particular, two aspects: 1) the transformations and evolutions of gender models traceable in the narrative 2) the representation of violence. The hypothesis is that these representations can impact children's perception of conflicts and problem solving, as well as their understanding of power and authority relationships. With regard to the evolution of Jasmine's character, the princess of 2019 is a princess who shows her empowerment by acting personally, refusing to marry or be considered a means through which to confer power. In this sense, the research is aimed at identifying potentially educational media products and inserting them into a complex and integrate media education project that could be implemented in school programs and informal contexts.

Research shows that the internet is a key facilitator of learning. The ability to enjoy a vast array of (often) free options on topics of choice, from Wikipedia to YouTube, from science and news websites to social media communities, offers unprecedented freedom and speed of access to much of the world's knowledge (Jenkins 2007; Ito et al. 2009; Benkler, 2011).

While the first phase of research on online learning examined the Internet as a monolithic resource, more recently scholars have sought to distinguish the different ways in which people use the Internet to learn (Marler & Hargittai, 2023). In a survey of a sample of more than 2000 Americans, Kross et al. (2021) use the uses and gratifications approach to distinguish the different uses young people make of online resources, distinguishing some specific channels used for educational purposes, such as YouTube, informational articles, practice guides, and Wikipedia, Q&A forums.

Moreover, young people not only use new channels for informal learning, but also apply new strategies that are native to digital environments and practices for approaching, exploring and deepening information (Scolari 2019): such as imitation, learning by teaching (through the production of tutorials) or the informal and fair collaboration that takes place on review sites and forums.

Research in recent years has thus led to the exploration of different online learning strategies of young people, often starting from the specific rather than generic contexts of digital fruition: as in the case of learning on Youtube (Pires et al. 2022), on Whatsapp (Costa-Sánchez & Guerrero-Pico, 2020) or on vertical social networks for reading and writing, such as Wattpad (Taddeo 2019; Taddeo and Tirocchi. 2021).

However, the limitations of such approaches to learning and skill-building have been raised from many quarters and discussed in various ways in a large body of academic literature (van Dijk 2017; Hargittai & Hinnant 2008). Recognising and addressing these limitations is crucial to ensuring that online learning is inclusive and effective (Eynon & Helsper, 2011; Jenkins 2011; Livingstone & Sefton-Green, 2016).

Within this theoretical framework, a qualitative empirical study was conducted on the productive, cultural and training practices of educational creators in Italy.

The research aimed to explore the dynamics of content creation by this type of actor, but also their relationship with users and with the platforms themselves, which host and in some way co-model their contribution. To this aim, a sample of 40 Italian creators was in depth interviewed.

This paper will present some of the results of the research. We will focus on exploring which factors, according to the creators, determine the success of an educational content on social media. We will also highlight some key characteristics that define cultural practices on such channels, focusing on the potentials but also on the main limitations creators have identified within these practices and contents.

The socialization of inclusion processes and the promotion of social justice today take place through different modes and tools. In the media landscape, a significant position is taken by audiovisuals by means of documentaries, film productions, in-depth broadcasts, and Internet videos. In this broad context, TV series assume a prominent position. Top products in the catalogs of current audiovisual platforms tell exciting stories, pursuing a "cinematic" logic (Mittell 2015). Their complexity is based on storytelling that spans several genres, offering a range of potential narrative twists that appeal to audiences. From detective stories to medical dramas to period dramas to docu-dramas, TV series are indeed a widely consumed product. In particular, for the past few years, there has been a proliferation of 'teen' settings where, increasingly, a space is also devoted to situations of conflict and aggression.

The intervention we propose aims to investigate some teen dramas in which not only love and friendship relationships are referred to, but also issues such as racism, economic inequality, gender discrimination, and systemic injustice enter the story. Although within the confines of fiction, whether total or partial (as is the case with docu-dramas), these narratives offer powerful representations of events that, if not actually happen, come very close to what the news daily tells us.

Considering cases that differ in terms of production and cultural setting, such as A Nearly Normal Family (Banijay, Netflix 2023), Sex Education (Elevan Film, Netflix 2019 - 2023), and Euphoria (HBO, 2019-), the aspects on which the analysis focuses concern the ways in which different forms of violence (in the main plot or in sub-plots) are depicted. The hypothesis is that in some cases, serial narratives incorporate within them not only the telling of difficult situations but also the discussion and potential responses to them. That is to say, in a completely informal way, they pose as tools for dialogue with the audience, offering narratives articulated according to several points of view. In addition, references to different contexts of production also emerge: the way an injustice or violence is narrated, and the strategies used to combat it, are often connected to cultural geographies. TV series are indeed cultural objects capable of offering their viewers perspectives that aspire to promote non-linear narratives of events, including internal moments of discussion also related to social justice and inclusiveness. TV series thus offer significant educational potential because, through engaging stories, they can bring important and sometimes overlooked issues to light, raising public awareness of complex issues, stimulating critical reflection, and encouraging greater awareness and action for social change.

Informal education has become an increasingly important channel through which behaviour patterns, values and lifestyles are formed that contribute to the socialisation of pre-adolescents and adolescents. The consumption of media content (especially digital content) increasingly expresses the propensity of young people, especially of the so-called 'Generation Z' (Dimock, 2019) towards issues that express emerging values, such as gender and sexuality issues, discrimination, sustainability, nature (Tirocchi, 2024) and that have strongly to deal with issues related to social justice and the difficulty of achieving it, in a global and complex world.

In the media universe, for example, we observe numerous representations of gender models that strongly condition the way girls and boys are perceived and perceive themselves in society. These are often stereotypical representations that affect the possibility of men and women acquiring their fundamental rights, because they risk perpetuating discriminations.

The paper aims to analyse, through a qualitative approach, the way in which certain contents of the digital pop culture consumed by teenagers express and represent gender models, focusing on female representations present on TikTok and linked to hashtags such as #girlhood and its subsequent evolutions. How do young women represent themselves and are represented? Around what values do young girls' representations of femininity revolve?

Starting from the results of the content analysis, the aim is to reason about how schools could enhance the informal culture and the skills developed within it (Scolari, 2018) by proposing gender education projects aimed at social inclusion.