Beyond the “Subculture of Connection”: Youth Violence and Gangs Online on Social Networks

Abstract

The convergence of urban and digital spaces increasingly influences the behavior of street gangs. The Internet is by its very nature a public and interactive environment, therefore it is much more powerful than any typical brand or symbol of a band. It offers a free space to the criminal groups to promote violent actions, transforming them into viral contents. Nowadays it is important to define the relationships between young people, new media and digital education, considering the social changes and the structure of the new transparent and digitalpublic space; it is necessary to recover the ability of listening by the adult, which presupposes silence, and is the prerogative of acceptance and co-operation, it would mean leaving the process of asocial and selfcelebrating communication-relationship in the world of cyberspace. Key-words: violence, digital media, gangs, relationship, digital-public space