Engl. transl.: The socio-cultural capital in the intra-family transfer of digital practices

The essay proposes a reflection on the influence of family social capital with respect to the development of digital skills in young people. Starting from the results of a research conducted on the municipality of Rome by the Sapienza University of Rome, the aim of the essay is to analyze and evaluate how much and in what way the family social capital activates processes of influence on the development of knowledge and skills in the use of digital technologies in a group of preadolescents. Specifically, we intend to reflect on the possible connections between family models and the development of specific profiles of digital competence of young people, analyzing the socio-cultural factors underlying any intra-generational gaps.

"In the research, about 70 percent of the pre-teens surveyed use digital media (especially Internet, smartphones, PCs) on a daily basis. Two main profiles of teens were identified: 1. Tacit technologists (about 35% of the sample), between the ages of 11 and 12 years, who possess only media access skills and perform mainly uploading/downloading activities, chatting, playing online. 2. Aesthetic critics (approximately 65% of the sample), between the ages of 13 and 15, who have basic skills of critical analysis with respect to digital media. They demonstrate the ability to carry out research on search engines and to decode the codes of a digital media interface. From the data it emerges that in families characterized by a position of unemployment, 60.6% of respondents express a high level of digital skills (especially technological access), compared to 76.9% of households with a high status (executives and middle managers)." (Cortoni & Di Giammaria, 2019, p. 84, translated).