I giovani e l'isolamento sociale Una forma ambivalente di fallimento

This article examines youth social isolation as an ambivalent form of'failure' in contemporary societies. Among 18–30-year-olds, digitally mediated everyday life, AI-enabled interaction, and the rise of JOMO (joy of missing out) seem to privilege bodily withdrawal and challenge ideals of face-to-face sociability. Drawing on Simmel's notion of ambivalence and Schutz's'stop-and-think', the paper argues that solitude is not necessarily social defeat: it can become a reflective resource for identity work and selective participation. Evidence from European youth mobility shows how Erasmus experiences and'restanza' practices reframe isolation into autonomy, care, and community-oriented success. [Publisher's Text]