PIRA Francesco

Francesco Pira - Biographical notes


Master's Degree in Social Organizations and Relations (89S – Specialist Degree Class in Sociology), final grade 110/110 summa cum laude, "Gabriele d'Annunzio" University of Chieti–Pescara
PhD in Social Communication Sciences, Magna cum laude, Pontifical Salesian University – Rome.

Associate Professor of Sociology of Cultural and Communicative Processes at the University of Messina – Department of Ancient and Modern Civilizations.
Delegate for Digital Communication of the Dept. of Ancient and Modern Civilization University of Messina.
He previously served as Director of the Master's Programme in Digital Communication Expertise for Public Administration and Enterprise. From February 2020 to October 2023, he acted as the Dean's Delegate for Communication at the University of Messina.
He is a member of the Doctoral Committee for the PhD Programme in Political Science at the University of Messina and has served on the Doctoral Board in Law.
Over the years, he has investigated diverse aspects of the sociology of communication, with particular emphasis on political and public communication dynamics, as well as social communication. Since 1999, he has focused on the interactions between children, adolescents, and new technologies, publishing numerous papers and monographs on the evolution of their communicative practices in relation to the development of new media and digital platforms.
Currently, his research focuses on social media dynamics, the proliferation of fake news and disinformation, and their impact on social relationships and processes of public opinion formation.
He has authored over 70 scholarly publications, including monographs, chapters in edited volumes, and peer-reviewed journal articles, published in Italian, English, and Spanish.

Selected International Research Projects

Scientific Coordinator and National Coordinator for Italy of the international and interdisciplinary research project "Open Innovative resources for high quality inclusive digital higher education (OIR)", ERASMUS ACTION 2 KA226 programme, PARTNERSHIPS FOR DIGITAL EDUCATION READINESS AGREEMENT, ERASMUS+ Grant Agreement: 2020-1-PL01-KA226-HE-096059. Competitive call at European level (evaluated by independent external experts – peer reviewers). Partners: Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin (Poland), University of Messina (Italy), and University of Oviedo (Spain). The project addressed critical issues that emerged in remote university teaching during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly related to the lack of skills and shared approaches in four key areas:
1. pedagogical use of digital technologies,
2. effective communication of knowledge and skills through digital resources,
3. management of individual and collaborative activities in remote mode,
4. design of innovative teaching materials and scenarios suited to the digital context.
Scientific Coordinator for the University of Messina (partner institution) for project 2025-1-PL01-KA220-HED-000362872, title: Beyond the Fake: AI and Digital Media Literacy for Reliable Information. Competitive call at European level (evaluated by independent external experts – peer reviewers). Partners: UMCS Lublin (Poland), University of Messina (Italy), Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi Foundation (Istanbul, Turkey), Trabzon University (Trabzon, Turkey) (Project approved for funding). Lead Institution: Maria Curie-Skłodowska University of Lublin – Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology.
Member of the international-level research group established within the Scientific Council of CISCAM (Italian Centre for the Study of African and Mediterranean Culture) and Coordinator for DICAM (Department of Ancient and Modern Civilizations, University of Messina) of the memorandum of understanding signed to develop joint research and teaching activities in collaboration with CISCAM. The Study Centre aims to inform, through brief reflections, news from various African countries, seminars, and online meetings, about ongoing developments in the Afro-Mediterranean context and, where necessary, in the Global South. The Centre signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Ancient and Modern Civilizations of the University of Messina with the objective of developing joint activities in research, teaching, and university engagement in all its multiple forms. Activities focus on issues related to culture, politics, African and Mediterranean societies, as well as the multiple aspects concerning the African presence in the Mediterranean basin, in Europe, and particularly in Italy. From 24-03-2021 to present
Member of the national-level research group at the University of Messina for the interdisciplinary research project titled: Cyberchondria and Fake News. The research focuses on detecting emotional characteristics—fear and anxiety—related to COVID-19 and Internet use in relation to health perception and online news seeking, with particular attention to the phenomenon of "cyberchondria", i.e., an anxiety-related trait connected to the perception of illness and the online search for information about specific symptoms. Scientific Coordinator: Prof. Carmela Mento. The first research results have been published in several scientific articles, including:
• Psychological Violence in Image-Based Sexual Abuse (IBSA): The Role of Psychological Traits and Social Communications—A Narrative Review, in HEALTHCARE, 2025, Mento, Carmela; Praticò, Martina; Silvestri, Maria Catena; Lombardo, Clara; Pira, Francesco. https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/13/17/2083
• Who Believes in Fake News: A Study on the Relationship between Affective Temperament, Cyberchondria and Problematic Use of the Internet during the COVID-19 Pandemic, in OBM NEUROBIOLOGY, 2023, Carmela Mento (Conceptualization); Maria Catena Silvestri (Collaboration Group Member); Clara Lombardo (Collaboration Group Member); Lucrezia Giuseppina Neri (Collaboration Group Member); Maria Gabriella Campolo (Formal Analysis); Francesco Pira (Supervision). https://www.lidsen.com/journals/neurobiology/neurobiology-07-01-151 From 01-10-2021 to present
Scientific Coordinator of the national-level interdisciplinary research group titled: "Laboratory of Sports Law and Communication" (together with Prof. Francesco Rende, Professor of Private Law at the University of Messina). Sociological research team: Francesco Pira, Roberta Casagrande (PhD candidate), Umberto Spaticchia (PhD candidate). Research objectives: in-depth analysis of current issues in Sports Law, examined from an interdisciplinary perspective with sociological insights, starting from stakeholders' needs—particularly those of professionals working in the sports sector. For the sociological component, the research pathway includes analysis of sociological and communication profiles, as well as the impact of sports models on society. Research results were discussed, through a participatory and multidisciplinary approach, at scientific conferences and study meetings. Results: presentation of two papers at the AIS End-of-Term Conference – Sport, Trento, 6–7 June 2025, and at the VII Conference of the Italian Scientific Society of Sociology, Culture, Communication – SISCC, Cagliari, 18–19/20 June 2025. Publication with Casagrande R. and Spaticchia U. of the volume Giornalismo Sportivo. Le nuove narrazioni dai media tradizionali agli eSports (2025). FrancoAngeli. From 01-10-2021 to 30-05-2022
Member of the international-level interdisciplinary research group for the MSCA-RISE project SHADOW (Project Number: 778188): An exploration of the nature of informal economies and shadow practices in the former USSR region. The project was funded under the EXCELLENCE RESEARCH programme, H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE – MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE Actions (MSCA), a European Union programme under the "Scientific Excellence" pillar of Horizon Europe, dedicated to funding doctoral and post-doctoral researcher training. https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/778188 Scientific Direction: Dr. Abel Polese, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Dublin City University, Ireland. Participating Universities:
• LUNDS UNIVERSITET (Sweden)
• UNIVERSITATEA DIN BUCUREȘTI (Romania)
• KIEV INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SOCIOLOGY LLC (Ukraine)
• CENTER FOR SOCIAL SCIENCES (Georgia)
• STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS IN RIGA SIA (Latvia)
• TALLINNA TEHNIKAÜLIKOOL (Estonia)
• UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI MESSINA (Italy), Prof. F. Pira Overall Budget: €900,000.00 University of Messina Budget: €90,000.00 Overall Project Results: launch and continuation of a series of "Policy Briefs" to be published regularly throughout the project; publication of scientific articles and chapters; development of pilot projects and prototypes (3); organization of a Round Table and an International Conference.
Member of the international-level research group, coordinated by the University of Malaga and involving universities from Spain, Italy, and Portugal, for the implementation of the project: "Proyectos de Generación del Conocimiento y actuaciones para la formación de personal investigador predoctoral asociada a dichos proyectos, en el marco del Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica, Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023, del Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades". PROJECT DURATION: 3 YEARS. REFERENCE: PID2023-147856OB-I00. TITLE: Digital Family. The impact of ICTs on new family structures and dynamics in Spain. THEMATIC AREA: Social Sciences (OSC) – SUB-THEMATIC AREA: Sociology and Social Anthropology (SOC). Beneficiary Institution: University of Malaga. Centre: Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences. Principal Investigator 1 (IP1): Luis Manuel Ayuso Sánchez; Principal Investigator 2 (IP2): José Manuel García Moreno. Project start date: 01/09/2024 – End date: 31/08/2027. Number of researchers in the group: 18. Research project objectives: The project explores the impact of digitalization on private life and family dynamics, risks such as information anxiety and relational fragmentation, as well as the opportunities digital technologies offer to strengthen affective bonds and care. The interdisciplinary research, with a strong gender perspective, is structured around four objectives (one methodological and three theoretical) and employs a mixed-methods approach (quantitative, qualitative, and exploratory). The results aim to contribute both to international scientific debate and to the definition of public policies, educational interventions, and social strategies for a more equitable, inclusive, and aware digital transition. From 01-09-2024 to present
Executive Board Member of the "Centre for Comparative Area Studies: Asia, Africa, Latin America (ASAFAL)" for the University of Messina (Resolution of the Board of Directors of the University of Messina – Prot. 112712 of 07.08.2025, ref. 330). Previously a member of the Centre since 22 December 2022. ASAFAL is an interdisciplinary research initiative that aims to combine area studies' contextual sensitivity with the use of comparative methods as a means to contribute both to broader theoretical debates and to a better understanding of specific cases. The core analytical perspective focuses on political, social, institutional, and cultural processes, bringing together researchers from diverse social science disciplines to develop mutually enriching analytical frameworks based on case studies and transnational research. This approach is designed to uncover similarities and differences and to challenge both overly generalizing global theories, on the one hand, and overly particularizing spatially and culturally bounded analyses, on the other. ASAFAL was founded on 27.07.2018 at the DISPi Department of the University of Siena. Founding members: University of Siena, University of Messina, and University for Foreigners of Perugia. Currently, the Centre is headquartered at the University of Messina – Department of Ancient and Modern Civilizations (DICAM). From 06-08-2025 to present
In January 2025 he has been appointed a member of the Scientific Committee of the Parliamentary Intergroup for Digital.
From March 2024 he is president of the Communication Media and Information branch of Confassociazioni, of which he had been vice president, and since June 2020 he is also president of the National Observatory on Fake News.
Member of the Academic Committee of the Observatorio Euromediterráneo de Democracia y Espacio Público de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, un espacio académico para el seguimiento y promoción de la convivencia democrática en toda clase de organizaciones sociales y niveles territoriales, pero con especial atención a la cuenca mediterránea y los países iberoamericanos. https://www.euromediterraneo.org/miembros
Member of the Editorial Board Series of the Inter-University Center for Research on the Sociology of Law, Information and Legal Institutions (CIRSDIG) Aracne Editore - Rome - http://www.aracneeditrice.it/index.php/collana.html?col=CIRSDIG
Member of the Scientific Committee of the Studia Humanitatis Journal, https://studiahumanitatisjournal.com/revista/index.php/shj/about/editorialTeam
Deputy Director of the Applied Sociological Theory -Book Series of the L'Harmattan Publishing House (Paris-Turin).


Selected publications

Volumes:
Giornalismo Sportivo, Le nuove narrazioni dai media tradizionali agli eSports, F. Pira, R. Casagrande, U. Spaticchia (FrancoAngeli, 2025)
La buona Educomunicazione. Scuola e famiglia, un approccio sociologico nella nostra nuova vita onlife (FrancoAngeli, 20204)
Mento C., Pira F. La violenza in un “click”. Profili sociologici, psicologici e giuridici del revenge porn. FrancoAngeli (2023)
Figli delle App. Le nuove generazioni digital popolari e social dipendenti, collana di Sociologia, FrancoAngeli (2021)
A. Altinier, F. Pira, GIORNALISMI – La difficile convivenza con Fake News e Misiformation, Libreriauniversitaria.it, (2018)
A. Cava., F. Pira, Social Gossip. Dalla chiacchiera di cortile al web pettegolezzo, Aracne Editore, 2016
A. Altinier, F. Pira, Comunicazione d’impresa e pubblica, Libreriauniversitaria.it, 2014
S. Benfante Picogna, F. Pira, Ricerca sulla percezione della disabilità nelle scuole della provincia di Caltanisetta, Libreriauniversitaria.it, 2014
S. Gamberini, F. Pira, La polizia locale e la comunicazione sul web, Maggioli Editore, 2013
La Net comunicazione politica. Partiti movimenti e cittadini-elettori nell’era dei social network, collana di Scienze della Comunicazione, Franco Angeli, Milano, 2012.

Journal Articles:
Francesco Pira, Umberto Spaticchia, Roberta Casagrande, Fake sex, real hate: deepfake pornography as technological violence in 4chan’s manosphere in "SOCIOLOGIA DELLA COMUNICAZIONE " 70/2025, pp 95-116,.
The crisis of the model of cultural production in the digital society. In: (a cura di): Javier del Olmo Solera José A. Ruiz San Román, SOCIEDADES EMERGENTES Y VULNERABILIDADE CONTEMPORÁNEAS. p. 1065-1080, MADRID:Editorial Dykinson, ISBN: 978-84-1070-450-3, doi: 10.14679/3432, 2024.
Lewicka -Zelent A., Pira F., Grudziewska E., Polish prison from a media and real life perspective. Students’ opinions based on the “Deep Water” series and academic knowledge Law in Action (PRAWO DZIAŁANIU SPRAWY KARNE) 59/2024: 55-68, DOI: 10.32041/pwd.5904
Onlyfans, un’indagine per comprendere il rapporto deglI adolescenti con intimità e nuove vetrinizzazioni. MEDIA EDUCATION, p. 1-18, ISSN: 2038-3002, doi: 10.36253/me-16155
pira f., casagrande r. (2024). Fake News and Populism: New Threats to Public Trust. SOCIETÀMUTAMENTOPOLITICA, p. 1-7, ISSN: 2038-3150, doi:10.36253/smp-15456
Le nuove generazioni social – dipendenti, 52-67, Sociologie Vol. II, n° 1 (2021) - ISSN Online 2724-6078, http://ojs.edizionialtravista.com/sociologie/index
La crisi del modello della produzione culturale: la vetrinizzazione esasperata = The crisis of the cultural production model: the exasperated vitrinization. 247-268. H-ermes, J. Comm. 20 (2021), 247-268, ISSN 2284-0753, DOI 10.1285/i22840753n20p247 http://siba-ese.unisalento.it.
Salzano, G., Passanisi, S., Pira, F. et al. Quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of adolescents: the crucial role of technology. Ital J Pediatr 47, 40 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13052-021-00997-7
Las Elecciones Europeas de 2019 y las fake news, pp 67-83 in Revista Barataria, número 26, noviembre de 2019 ISSN: 1575-0825 DOI.ORG/10.20932/barataria.v0i26.510
To beat Fake news with a responsible journalism, pp 11-19, REVISTA COMUNICAÇÃO E SOCIEDADE, ISSN:2519-7339 vol. 7
La nuova vita della Media Education. Le metamorfosi della media Education di fronte alla digitalizzazione dei codici nell’era della convergenza tecnologica. Pp 236-251. In Media Education DOI: 10.14605/med921804. ISSN: 2038-3002 vol. 9 (2), 2018.
The aesthetics of pity. Italian media representation of migrants and emotional audience, Cava A, Parito M, Pira F., pp 49-81. In Working Papers Series, Vol. 2018 of the ICSR Mediterranean Knowledge ISSN 2464-9538 DOI: 10.26409/2018WPSMK03
The perception of security in the communities, the narration through media and social media focus on migration phenomenon in Italy Nella rivista scientifica internazionale ACTA UNIVERSITATIS WRATISLAVIENSIS N. 3805. Wroclaw University Poland (pp 313-324), Wroclaw Poland, 2017
La non comunicazione di crisi, quando il giornalismo riscopre l’autorevolezza, M. Centorrino, F. Pira,pp 333-350 nella rivista scientifica di comunicazione e scienze sociali Comunicazione Puntodoc n.16 07/2017.

Chapters in edited volumes:
Francesco Pira & Umberto Spaticchia & Roberta Casagrande, 2026. "Post-Human Communities: Reorganizing Social Relations in the Age of Interspecies Communication," Contributions to Economics, in: Francesca Greco & Andrea Fronzetti Colladon & Peter A. Gloor (ed.), Artificial Intelligence and Networks for a Sustainable Future, pages 25-43, Springer.
Digital journalism(s), misinformation, fake news, pp 15 -37. In Estudos Contemporâneos em Jornalismo – Coletanea 9 (a cura di) Juarez Ferraz De Maia Rosana Maria Ribeiro Borges Salvio Juliano Peixoto Farias, Goiânia : Cegraf UFG, 2021, ISBN: 978-85-495-0479-1
Fake News Interference on Media and Social Media. DOI:10.3726/b17162. pp.239-254. In Media, Migrants and Human Rights. In the Evolution of the European Scenario of Refugees’ and Asylum Seekers’ Instances (a cura di) La Rocca G., Di Maria R., Frezza G. – Berlin, Peter Lang. 2020, ISBN:9783631826843
The challenge of collective intelligence in the era of disinformation pp 81-102, (a cura di) Truda G., Cimagalli F. Cultural Changes, Communication, Knowledge, Gutenberg Editore, Salerno, 2019
De la Post-verdad a la desinformacion. La mutation en el sistema de los medios. Pp 387-402. In Comprender el presente, Imaginar el Futuro. Nuevas y Viejas brechas sociales, 2018 – ISBN 9788898138326
Comunicacion ambiental en la era de las redes sociales: Italia – Espana, dos casos comparados. Pp 39-48. In Sociologia y el Sur de Europa. Italia y Espana ante el cambio climatico y el fenomeno migratorio, 2018 ISBN 9788491803713
Facebook e i social: nuovi luoghi di sperimentazione dell’identita di genere (Parte sesta: La questione gender oggi: spunti sul dibattito attuale pp 349-362) in (a cura di) Gensabella Furnaro M. Identità di genere e differenza sessuale. Percorsi di studio (collana Bios, Ethos e Polis), Rubettino, Bologna (2017) ISBN 9788849852882