DIGITALOSOPHY: WRITTEN INTERVIEW WITH GABRIELE GOBBO


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Your book is called Digitalosophy. Where does the word come from, and what does it mean?
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It comes from combining "digital" and "philosophy," but I did not want to write a philosophy book in the academic sense. Digitalosophy is a framework for thinking critically about the digital life we already live. It starts with a simple observation: most people use technology every day without really asking what it is doing to their attention, their relationships, their reputation, or their habits. The word is my attempt to name that gap and the kind of thinking needed to close it.


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What do you mean when you say that many people live digital life on autopilot?
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I mean that most of us scroll, post, message, and share without much conscious thought about why, or what we are giving away in exchange. We open apps out of habit. We accept terms we never read. We let platforms shape what we see, what we think is popular, and what we feel is urgent. None of that is inevitable. It just feels normal because we stopped noticing it. Living on autopilot is not about being stupid or careless. It is about adapting to systems that are very good at making themselves invisible.


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You write about Digital Sleepwalkers. Who are they?
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They are people who use technology with apparent fluency but without real awareness of how it works or what it asks of them. The term is a challenge to the idea of the digital native: the assumption that growing up with technology means understanding it. It does not. A teenager who knows every TikTok feature is not necessarily aware of how the algorithm is shaping what they see, why certain content is amplified, or what data is being collected. Adults are often in the same position. Knowing how to use a tool and understanding what the tool is doing to you are two different things.


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Why does an Italian perspective matter in a conversation often dominated by Silicon Valley?
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Because the people who built the internet and the platforms have a specific way of looking at technology: they tend to see it as inherently progressive, as something that solves problems and improves lives. I grew up in a culture that watched the digital age arrive from a distance. Italy did not build these systems. We had to decide whether to adopt them, how to live with them, and at what cost. That outside position produces different questions. It is not about Italy being better or worse at technology. It is about what you see when you are not inside the machine.


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The book includes a chapter on Social Zombing. What is it?
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Social Zombing is a coordinated digital attack designed to damage a person's or organization's online presence by exploiting the anti-fake systems of platforms. It works by flooding a legitimate account with suspicious activity, fake followers, or inorganic engagement, triggering the platform to penalize the account. The target often does not know why their reach suddenly collapsed or why their account was restricted. I developed the concept with Max Guadagnoli in 2021, after watching it happen to small businesses, journalists, and public figures who had no framework for understanding what was happening to them.


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Who is Digitalosophy for?
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For anyone who uses technology every day and feels that digital life has become too important to be lived without thinking about it. That includes parents trying to make sense of their children's relationship with screens, educators who work with young people, professionals whose reputation and work live online, and people who simply sense that something has shifted in how they spend their attention, but cannot quite name what it is. The book is not technical. It does not require any background in technology or media theory. It requires only a willingness to look at the digital environment we already live in with a bit more clarity.


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What kind of technology book did you want to avoid writing?
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A lot of technology books promise shortcuts. Here are the five things to stop doing, or here are the tools that will change your workflow, or here is how to detox from your phone. I did not want to write any of those. The digital environment we live in is complicated and consequential, and I think it deserves more than a checklist. I also did not want to write a book that treats technology as the enemy. I have worked in digital culture for thirty years and I use these tools every day. The book is not an argument against technology. It is an argument for staying conscious while using it.


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PRESS CONTACT
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digitalosophy@macpremium.it
https://www.digitalosophy.com/press/
