Lo studio dell'opinione pubblica al tempo dei big data : una sfida per la ricerca sociale

According to many scholars, social networks provide an unobtrusive vision of public opinion. This in turn allows to overcome the problem of social desirability, typical of public opinion studies through survey questionnaires. Drawing on the media studies tradition devoted to the analysis of the ways in which people use the Internet, the authors argue that the statements posted on a social network, just like the answers to a questionnaire, can be the result of a subtle strategy of control of the self-image. Rather than being solved, the problem of social desirability thereby presents itself again, in renewed forms.