Over the last years, there has been an increasing emphasis on the potential of the Internet as a means of increasing young people’s participation (Bennett, 2007; Pettingill, 2007). The Internet has been recognised as a technology enabling participatory aptitudes and facilitating content sharing and creation. The raise of Web 2.0 and social network sites have also been viewed as driver for young people’s participation: from discussing in a web forum to creating content in a wiki, from sharing useful resources to using information in every field of life – education, politics, economy, society. Indeed, the new digital media are seen offering young people opportunities to undertake participative roles with positive implications on the development of their abilities (empowerment): at the individual level (development of competences, exposure to different points of view), at the community level (the richness of different points of view and sharing of information), and at the social level (civic involvement and democratic participation). According to Jenkins et al. (2006), who focused on digital technologies and «participative culture», the participation in projects involving collaborative knowledge-building can offer young people the opportunity to develop new abilities for the exercise of full citizenship and even for professional life. In addition, the opportunities provided by the Internet can support young people in the political and social action (Bennett, 2007), thus promoting new forms of civic engagement (Pettingill, 2007).

However, some studies have questioned the enthusiasm in the participatory power of the Internet (Selwyn & Gorard, 2003). For example, Livingstone et al. (2005) found that interactive and creative uses of the Internet are encouraged by the very experience of using the Internet but that visiting civic websites depends primarily on demographic factors (with older, middle-class girls being most likely to visit these sites). In a similar vein, Hargittai and Walejko (2008) found that despite new opportunities to engage in such distribution of content, relatively few people are taking advantage of these recent developments.

Therefore, though the Internet might seem to have a great potential, the research on online participatory culture is still at the beginning. The aim of this study is to add a ‘piece of evidence’ on these issues through the investigation of teens’ attitudes towards online participation and content creation. In particular, the study aimed at providing a conceptual representation of the notion of participation within the network, and developing and testing a specific instrument to assess adolescents perception of the participatory potential of the Internet.

Bennett, W. L., Changing Citizenship in the Digital Age, in L. W. Bennett (ed), Civic Life Online, Cambridge, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA 2007, pp. 1–24. Hargittai, E., & Walejko G. (2010). The Participation Divide: Content Creation and Sharing in the Digital Age. Information, Communication and Society, 11, 2, 239-256. Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A. & Weigel, M. (2006). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Chicago (IL): The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Livingstone, S., Bober, B., & Helsper, E. J. (2005). Active participation or just more information? Young people’s take-up of opportunities to act and interact on the Internet. Information, Communication & Society, 8, 3, September, 287–31. Marradi, A. (2005). Raccontar storie, Roma: Carocci. Pettingill, L. (2007). Engagement 2.0? How the New Digital Media Can Invigorate Civic Engagement. GoodWork Project Paper Series, 50, 2007. Selwyn, N., & Gorard, S. (2003). Reality bytes: examining the rhetoric of widening educational participation via ICT. British Journal of Educational Technology, 34, 2, 169–181. Trinchero, R., & Tordini, M. L.(2011). Responsabilità e disagio. Una ricerca empirica sugli adolescenti piemontesi. Milano: Franco Angeli.