Synopsis
The rapid expansion of digital technologies has fundamentally transformed the ways in which welfare systems are designed, delivered, and experienced across contemporary platform societies. As governments increasingly rely on digital platforms, data infrastructures, and automated decision-making to administer public services, these tools promise greater efficiency, responsiveness, and accessibility for both institutions and citizens. At the same time, digital welfare systems raise pressing concerns about equity, transparency, privacy, and accountability, particularly when vulnerable populations encounter barriers to access or are subject to opaque forms of automated assessment. Questions of governance and participation are therefore central, as meaningful public oversight and citizen engagement are needed to ensure that technological innovation supports rather than undermines social rights. Exploring this topic is essential for identifying practical ways to make digital welfare systems more transparent, inclusive, and accountable while protecting the rights and needs of vulnerable communities. Digital Welfare in Platform Societies: Governance, Participation, and Social Vulnerabilities explores the complex relationships between technology, public administration, social policy, and digital citizenship through a collection of empirical studies, theoretical contributions, and policy-oriented analyses. The chapters investigate how platform-based governance, artificial intelligence, algorithmic decision-making, social media, and digital participation influence access to welfare services, institutional trust, labor market integration, cultural engagement, and social inclusion. Covering topics such as administrative entrapment, guidance systems, and user experience, this book is an excellent resource for scholars, researchers, graduate and post-graduate students, policymakers, public administrators, social service professionals, digital governance specialists, and more.
À propos des auteurs
Gabriella Punziano , Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Research, is an Associate Professor of General Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Italy, where she teaches methodological courses on mixed and digital methods. Her research interests include: social research methodology; mixed and digital approaches; social policies and welfare regimes; analysis of public, institutional, and political communication phenomena; risk communication analysis on social and digital platforms; socioeconomic effects on the Third Sector; changes in individual behaviors; risk governance; science communication; the role of experts in the Covid-19 era; algorithmic feedback loop in cultural consumption, digital literacy and awareness. Among her recent publications are: with Velotti, L. and Addeo, F. (2022), Covid 19: Government Policies and Human Social Behavior in Italy, CRC PRESS, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, UK; with Delli Paoli, A. (2022), Handbook of Research on Advanced Research Methodologies for a Digital Society, IGI Global, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA; with De Falco, C.C. and Trezza, D. (2022), “Digital mixed content analysis perspective for the study of digital platform social data: an application on the analysis of the COVID-19 risk perception in the Italian Twittersphere,” in Journal of Mixed Methods Research, Sage, 16(2); with Padricelli, G.M., Vettori, A. (2025). Algorithmic feedback loops in soft science disciplines. The Lab’s Quarterly, 27(3); alone (2025). Adaptive Epistemology: Embracing Generative AI as a Paradigm Shift in Social Science. Societies, 15, 205.
Domenico Trezza holds a PhD in Social Sciences and Statistics from the University of Naples Federico II. He works in the field of monitoring and evaluating educational policies and methods and techniques for data analysis. He is currently assistant professor of Social Research Methodology in the Department of Social Sciences at Federico II and consultant for Ifel Campania for monitoring the Scuola Viva programme.
Giuseppe De Luca Picione is Associate Professor of General Sociology at the University of Naples Federico II, he is a member of the Executive Board of the Italian University Network for Lifelong Learning and Scientific Director of the MIUR Research Centre on Adult Education in Campania. Rector's delegate to the Italian University Network for Lifelong Learning, he teaches Social Innovation and Lifelong Learning, Social Media Data Analysis, Sociology of Criminal Organisations and Security Policies, AI & Public, Social and Political Communication SociaLab.
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