Youth Information in a Network Society: the Case of Youth Information Centers in Campania.

The purpose of the study is to analyze the characteristics that youth information should have in a network society. On the one hand, it analyses the implications determined by the diffusion of ICT on social processes. On the other hand, it highlights the potential of these implications for public administrations devoted to youth information. In this potential is routed the challenge of youth policies. In fact, youth information is an acknowledged need within European youth policies which conceptualize information as a prerequisite for civic participation and exhorts EU countries to create appropriate information and counseling services (Youth Information Centers). The study explores the state of youth information policies in a network society. In order to do so, we carry out a research on a sample of Youth Information Centers in Campania (Italy) through a two-step procedure which mixes a qualitative method (participant observation) and a quantitative one (questionnaire). The analysis demonstrates the inefficacy of such centers in stimulating youth information and participation. It shows that the majority of such centers are local nodes disconnected from national, European and international levels of information. The failure of Youth Information Centers - testified by their modest number of young users and due to their inefficiency in adapting to structural and social transformations - shows how the traditional model of youth information is premised on a model of youth which is out of phase with the life styles of many young people.