La controversia sul metodo: un’interpretazione del dibattito online sui vaccini a partire dai saperi esperti

The article aims to identify the main features of scientific debate on the Covid-19 pandemic and which arguments are used to underline relevance and effectiveness of vaccination, and, moreover, to discuss what image of scientific knowledge as a cultural product emerges from this debate. The reflection starts from a content analysis of some social profiles (Twitter above all, but also Facebook) and more marginally from newspaper articles and scientific dissemination web pages (blogs). In detail, through a social media ethnography, the authors have focused on arguments of a scientific nature, not directly taking into consideration the articulated ‘no-vax’ world, positions related to irrational or emotional sphere or discourses of public figures which are not medical doctors or scientists. The observation period (September-December 2021) is the one following the introduction in Italy of those measures (the so-called Green Pass) that have prompted a more heated debate.