TECHNOLOGY IN THE TIME OF PANDEMICS Digitalization in crisis contexts

As human beings we need the group; without a flock we die. If deprived of contact, we physically and mentally perish. Yet, in the case of this serious epidemic, common living has created a conflict with the need to stem the spread of the virus. In accepting exceptional measures, we have also taken on an aesthetic of distancing and urbanization typical of eastern countries: face masks, bicycles, scooters, and relationships without direct contact have undoubtedly changed the way we look at the world, leading to an inevitable surge in the use of digital technologies. Between Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, Virtual Private Networks (VPN), smart-working, distance learning, e-commerce, and social networks, the months we spent in front of a screen made us quickly realize the potential, but also the limits, of this type of communication. The “digital life” seemed just as consistent and real as traditional life, almost as if there was some continuity between our online and offline identities. It is as if there had been a kind of “invasion of the real” in digital technology, becoming the only possible space for human, educational, commercial, and sharing relationships, making the futuristic dream of a digital life come true quickly and unexpectedly.