Today's narrative and the dark sides of social media and the digital world

Stories If for a long time

has struggled to make its way into contemporary narratives (a

or a

appeared almost as inelegant and out of place in the sphere of fiction, while in reality they invaded everyday life), today the approach seems to have changed: they are more and more novels that not only do not avoid the theme, but rather make it the fulcrum of their own history.

There are those who have tried to embed them in a definition, such as

or

, but in reality they are simply stories that, in an attempt to investigate the contemporary, cannot be exempt from narrating an essential aspect of our lives more and more fast.

, are now inextricable from personal and work life, as well as from social and family life, and there can be (or almost) history that does not relate to at least one of these plans

.

Moreover, in the years in which the network and the new interconnection technologies have shown themselves to society even in their

, it was inevitable that even the novels would begin to explore the evident consequences.

While a spirit of denunciation often emerges in the

and

dedicated to the virtual world, fiction can allow itself to dwell on the changes that occur in the small folds of everyday life, uncovering the microtraumas of the impact with the

.

Here is a selection of literary voices (some established, others debuting) that over the

have paused to tell

in a fictional way , asking questions that once upon a time could appear frivolous (what impact does virtual celebrity have on one's life? How much does the virtual copy the real and how much vice versa? Can violence, hatred and lies hurt even if they are virtual?), but in whose answers today we is defining the future of our society.

Inserted in the

of the ten best books of 2021,

(Mondadori, translated by Manuela Faimali) written by

, takes us into the world of an unnamed protagonist overwhelmed by the senseless vortex of the "Portal", the social network that has recently given her great popularity.

What does it mean to be a person completely immersed in the world of virtual sociality?

What does it mean to live through your own posts and those of others, while the world around you seems headed for endless decline?

This novel explores the contemporary theme of feeling torn between two parallel realities, one physical and one virtual, and questions what happens when the first comes knocking on the door to claim the attention it deserves.

To know the darker side of working with social networks well are the

, those figures of the new digital media who are in charge of viewing, evaluating and eliminating the worst content uploaded by users before they get too much visibility.

However, the life of those who deal with filtering is inevitably compromised by the violence, hatred and falsehoods with which they are forced to live every day, and the consequences are shattered in their personal sphere as well as on the collective one of users.

in

(Mondadori, translated by Francesco Panzeri) allows us to get to know this reality through the story of Kayleigh and his colleagues, who discover themselves mere tools of power for the great technology company that hired them.

Irene Graziosi

, author and part of the

project , has recently made her debut with the novel

(e / o).

Through the story of Maia, Graziosi (here the interview,

) allows us to discover what lies beyond the stereotypes behind the word “

”.

Maia, in fact, is a girl who in a period of painful changes finds herself working with Gaia, a famous influencer of only 18 years.

A deep and at the same time complicated relationship is established between them, in which the problems of one are reflected in the other, in a period of life in which the

and

they only exacerbate the contradictions of the real world.

And if on the one hand it seems that social networks have invaded the private sphere, it is also true that in many sectors they have also established themselves in the workplace.

Ida, the protagonist of

(Garzanti), written

and

, dreams of becoming a screenwriter, but instead finds herself working as a social media manager as part of an internship in a Milanese communication agency.

She thus confronts a new world, deeply influenced by the logic of digital, a world that changes her and forces her to have to deal with her dreams and broken expectations.

With a touch of irony, this novel tells the problems of an entire generation that, after being raised by the motto "Do what you love and you will not work one day in your life", ended up colliding with

,

and insecurity.

What would happen if, in addition to photos, texts and information, we could also share our conscience and our memories on social media?

asks

this in

(Mondadori, translation by Gianni Pannofino), a set of 13 stories connected to each other (here an insight,

) in which some characters from her cult novel

.

The protagonists' lives have been influenced in different ways by "Take back the unconscious", a technology born for charity, but which soon ends up becoming a disturbing platform where anyone can make their memories accessible to see those of others.

And while on the one hand the “evaders” try to escape this dangerous system, many people decide to move the bar of what they are willing to share further and further.

Sharing sometimes works like illusionists' tricks: it makes something seem real that it really isn't.

In publishing fragments of ourselves we narrate and recreate ourselves every time, more or less consciously, according to the people and the purposes we want to achieve.

knows it well

, who in her debut novel

(Bompiani, translation by Marta Barone) tells her story so realistic as to seem almost unreal: a novel that leads us to reflect on the fact that, if it is true that online we cannot trust others, sometimes it is also true that we cannot even trust ourselves.

A bit like what happened to musicians and movie stars, whose life in the spotlight has seemed less and less attractive over time, so today it is difficult to believe in the imaginary of a perfect life linked to the world of influencers.

To undermine this commonplace is also the new novel by

,

(Mondadori).

Vittoria, who would like to see her blog grow her music, instead ends up

.

Her fame suddenly grows, but despite her growing number of followers, Vittoria, she feels more and more alone, and returning to her previous life seems more difficult every day.