In-person and On-line Cultural Participation Amidst the Digital Change and the Great Lockdown: Reflections on Regional Data from Italy
摘要
The chapter investigates two interconnected questions: the impact of IT accessibility on cultural engagement, and the effects of the Great Lockdown on on-line versus in-person cultural consumption. At its core lies the question of whether the surge in digital cultural consumption, prompted by the Great Lockdown, will replace or complement traditional in-person cultural experiences post-Covid-19. The specific contribution of the chapter is based on the evidence offered by the panel dataset of the twenty Italian regions observed over the decade 2011–22. Over time, limited substitution between in-person and online cultural consumption is evident, except during the Great Lockdown. On the digital front, differences across the regions have been decreasing, while significant disparities persist in the realm of in-person cultural consumption.