When some weeks ago I read on Corriere della Sera, one of the main Italian national dailies, that a report about "Generation .0" (the nickname the publication gave to the people in their twenties to make it sound cooler than what it really is) was due to be launched soon, I thought it was a great idea.

I even thought "wow, finally Il Corriere does what a newspaper should do, investigating real issues, with real examples and let their readers share their views and experiences".

How naive of me to think so!

After my instinctive burst of enthusiasm (justified by being in my late twenties myself, therefore part of that lost generation of "no-longer-that-young people" still living at home with their parents because of the extorsionist cost of life and almost inexistent chances to find a job in the country of Pizza, Amore e Corruzione), my equally instinctive skepticism kicked in.

First of all I wanted to post a comment on the Corriere website to express my appreciation of the project: too bad, even after logging in with my credetials I was not allowed to write anything: the LEAVE A COMMENT button would simply not get activated.

I thought I should try the new media instead and gave did a quick search on Facebook: no group or page linked to the project found, although the article in the Corriere mentioned that all the findings of the project would be published on a blog on the newspaper's website and also on Facebook and Twitter (see the announcement below).

I went ahead and connected with Il Corriere on Twitter to let them know that, although I really liked the initiative, they forgot to make clear to their readers how they could send in their stories and participate to the project (see image below). No answer, which is very typical of the Italian way to cope with customers, readers and with members of the general public at large. In Italy communication, when it actually works, is mainly one way- top down.

I even tried searching via the hashtag #GenerazionePuntoZero but with no results.

Only today, after reading community member Francesca Micheletti's blog about the phantomatic hiring process at Corriere della Sera I thought of checking again the progress of the Generation .0 project, to see if any development had occurred in the meantime.

Once again, I found no trace of the FB page, but after quite a long search I finally came across the blog (yes it really exists!), whose first post was published on March 2nd, 2012. Unfortunately though, although the ABOUT section invites everybody to report their stories, send in comments and questions, I still haven't found what I am looking for.

How can readers participate to this blog?

Why is there no email contact, no submission button apart the comment box (open only to registered members of www.corriere.it)?

With this project, Il Corriere is trying to refresh its image using Web 2.0 talk and already outdated blogging platforms: I find it laughable and sadly embarassing how, underneath the apparent attempt to try and give a voice to the unheard younger generations, this newspaper is completely ignoring the core concept of the whole new media philosophy- a crazy little thing called "participation".

Once again the media perfectly mirror what the Italian society thinks of the "younger" generations: nothing, absolutely nothing.

Seen from this perspective the name "Generation .0" perfectly fits its purpose.