The Infosphere, the metaphysical realm of news, opinions, and public debate, constitutes our society’s nervous system. It is an existential threat for every democratic society when information flows are not robust, and exchanges are not constructive. Understanding how these systems behave is paramount, especially in the current times of rising global challenges. Thanks to technological transformations and the resulting enormous amount of digital traces, unprecedented investigation opportunities are unlocking a new understanding of the Infosphere phenomenology. I work on topics like consensus and polarization, supply and demand of news, disinformation and debate manipulation. At the same time, technology also affects the Infosphere phenomenology. By studying the impact of algorithms and social media on the Infosphere, I aim to imagine how a new ecosystem of Information Technologies can make our societies‘ “nervous systems” more resilient and better suited to support meaningful public discourse.
Pietro Gravino is a researcher in Complex Systems and Computational Social Science. He completed his formation in Italy, where he studied Physics at Sapienza – University of Rome and got his PhD at Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna. There, he also obtained a postgraduate diploma in Free and Open-Source Technology. After broadening his competencies, Pietro became attracted by the importance of understanding how “techno-social” systems work and how they affect and co-evolve with human life. He has applied intellectual tools from Statistical Physics and Network Science to large datasets on topics like language, opinions, energy, mobility, creativity and innovation. His current focus is on news ecosystems, public discourse, d/misinformation, polarisation, and Computational Social Sciences, more in general. With his work, he aims to contribute to a science of and for democratic societies!
