Pathologization, branding and self promotion in the social ecosystem. A challenge and an opportunity for an inclusive society

Abstract

The interweaving of psychological, communicative and social components on which the success of social networks is based can be read from different perspectives: the urgent need to speak from generations grown up in an oppressive emotional silence; the desire to experiment with new languages and ways of self-representation (as selfie teach above all); the experimentation of strategies of self-management and self-promotion online of one’s identity (the so-called Self-branding). Too often, this set of dynamics is simplistically labelled as the pathological expression of the narcissistic impulses of the digital generations, when instead an analysis free from prejudices and stereotypes would allow to highlight also the great opportunities that such practices open to inclusion, as
demonstrated by the phenomenon of the disabled YouTubers who, through powerful and provocative videos, manage to sabotage the pietistic rhetoric that ableist society has created around them.