De Rita (Censis): “With screen proliferation we are increasingly consumers”

“What is the meaning of a people with 120 million screens? What does it mean to multiply the screens? ” The president of Censis Giuseppe De Rita asked this, speaking at Palazzo Giustiniani at the presentation of the Fourth Auditel – Censis Report entitled “Multiscreen Italy: from Smart-TV to the screen in your pocket, this is how the country is running towards digital”, according to to which this fact “demonstrates the victory of the gaze over hearing. But there is also another interpretation in the proliferation of screens and in the speed with which it occurs: the multiplication of smartphones testifies to the will of individuals to control and consume anytime and anywhere; on the other hand, the increase in smart TV is the demonstration of the personalization of choices and demand “. “Through these devices that we use everywhere, we are no longer ‘prosumers’ or producers and consumers – warns De Rita – but more and more consumers. There is an accentuation of the consumerist and presentist dimension that once made us worry, but even today I would pay particular attention to it, given that the increase in consumers is to the detriment of production ”. “Then there is another aspect – continues the president of Censis – When the elements multiply there is a need for a center that gives meaning and which is missing here. In fact, today we have a dimension left to the freedom of facts. We increase everything and wait to see what happens. Instead, we should have some reference elements. Otherwise the phenomenon escapes understanding. We tell ourselves – he clarifies – let’s let it go, it’s useless to think about it now, useless to slow down production, useless to slow down the platforms, let them do it. But the problem remains, and it is whether this phenomenon should be left alone or whether it should be looked at and kept under cognitive control “. “Another argument of this multiplication of everything – reflects De Rita – is whether it does not pose a future problem of content. You will make money on content because this is linked to the proliferation of tools and behaviors. It is a problem that exists but on which we must reflect in a different way than in the past. Finally, the issue not to be overlooked – he concludes – is that of platforms which affects the multiplication and the possibility of controlling devices “.