Quando l’ironia morde. Gli attacchi social da Suarez a Renzi. I bersagli e la tecnologia che distorce

The irony has always been linked to the dimension of communication and contestation. Already in ancient times it was used by the people to criticize the powerful, or more simply to mock more subtly. With the emergence of new processes of communication, including the irony evolved through tools and more complex and creative shapes, who have enriched an already vast scenery of narrative constructions. The weapon of derision and contradiction is unleashed today in most modern models of narrative communication and networking. Starting from politics to get to the sport, the ironic component has become critical to convey certain feelings and reactions in recipients more or less aware. Images and video retouched and falsified to reach the target hit with higher incidence. Think of the video-installation of Premier Renzi struggling with English and the Uruguayan striker Suarez biting Italian player Chiellini during the World Cup in Brazil. These episodes have sparked the imagination of critics, who have targeted the player and the political through the web. This practice seriously affects public opinion, which is largely represented by Twitter followers or on Facebook. Ironic content shared by the same recipients, and retwitted means in some ways, create new subjects of ironic strategy, making it viral. The technology that we have today, compared to what happened in the past, allows the community to create new forms of social criticism through ironic contents that, by their irreverent and playful nature, provide new ideas for criticism, that process new models of reference in the dimension of images, their production and processing.