How Important Is Your Reputation? Gloria Origgi at Bocconi

"If for the others, I was not the one I had always believed I was for myself, then who was I?". This phrase by Luigi Pirandello opened the second date of the cycle of seminars "Broaden Your Frame", which yesterday saw the philosopher and social scientist Gloria Origgi take the students of the graduate school on a journey through the meaning of reputation. "She did so by passing from the influence of the internet and social media to the many ranking systems that characterize contemporary society and help to build reputation in our social relationships, in business, in politics and in academia," says Antonella Carù, Dean of the Graduate School.

What is the source of our obsession with reputation? Why is it so important? Origgi has tried to address these questions, investigating the roots of the meaning of reputation and explaining how its value has been transformed in the course of history: if in Shakespeare's Othello it was a question of honor, something intangible, today with the Internet and social networks reputation has become a trace that can be measured. "Reputation is the immortal part of us, because it goes beyond the physical limits of our existence. It's the social trace that we produce through our actions, actions that we sometimes lose control of," Origgi continues, taking as an example one of the many episodes of revenge porn that saw a girl commit suicide because her boyfriend shared around a video about her. "What struck me about this episode were the words of that girl's mother on the day of the funeral: 'at least, please, restore her reputation'".

The "Broaden Your Frame" seminars are open to graduate students and are included in the curricular supplementary activities. Students who attend at least 6 seminars (out of a total of 14) and send a "triple-tweet" after each meeting, that is a short comment at the address byf@unibocconi.it, will be able to obtain the two credits provided by the study plan for the second year.