“So, who is Il Sassarese Medio?”
It's probably one of the questions we're asked most often.
The answer, however, is different from what many people expect. Because looking for a first and last name behind Il Sassarese Medio means starting with the wrong question.
Il Sassarese Medio isn't a person.
It's a project launched in Sassari, run by several people and grown over the years thanks above all to a community that takes part every day, comments, sends in tips, makes suggestions and, of course, pokes a little fun at itself too.
It all began in 2017
Il Sassarese Medio was born in 2017 almost as a bit of fun, with a fairly simple idea: to use humor to portray behaviors, habits, foibles, turns of phrase and situations that a Sassarese person could relate to.
The name was already a declaration of intent.
Not one specific Sassarese person, but the average Sassarese: that imaginary character who parks where they shouldn't, discusses Dinamo and Torres as if at a press conference, waits eleven months of the year for the Faradda and has extremely strong opinions about fainè, airports and every roadwork site in the city.
At first, it was mostly memes and cartoons. Then something happened. People started getting involved.
From audience to community
Photos, videos, tips, news, ideas for memes, curious incidents. An increasingly significant share of Il Sassarese Medio's content started coming directly from the people who followed the page.
And this is probably when the project stopped being just a social media page. Over the years, the community became part of the story.
Some send in a photo of something that happened in the city just minutes ago. Some flag a problem in their neighborhood. Some suggest a joke. Some tell a story. Some send pictures of the Faradda, Sassari under the snow, a sunset in Platamona or yet another situation so quintessentially Sassarese that it needs no explanation.
The result is a kind of vast collective observatory of the city.
So who's behind it?
From the outset, the founders of Il Sassarese Medio chose not to make their personal identities the focus of the project. That choice still holds today.
So there's no interest in building up the admin as a character, putting a face in front of the logo or turning the page into someone's personal profile. Because the protagonist should remain Sassari.
And above all because, after almost ten years, it would now be reductive to identify Il Sassarese Medio solely with the people who actually manage its platforms.
The community builds part of what gets published every day.
More than just satire
The project has also changed in the meantime.
Satire remains a fundamental part of Il Sassarese Medio's identity, but over the years it's been joined by local news, events, photography, traditions, sports, culture and the promotion of the area.
Concrete initiatives for the city have also been added.
During the Covid emergency, the community was used to support a fundraiser for Sassari's hospital. Over the years, other charitable initiatives, fundraisers and events have followed, organized together with local associations and groups.
The principle has always been the same: if tens of thousands of people are gathered in the same place, that strength can be put to use for more than just a laugh.
A project that has changed along with Sassari
When Il Sassarese Medio was launched in 2017, it was essentially a satirical page. Today, it's hard to sum it up in a single definition.
It's satire when it pokes fun at something happening in the city.It's news when it covers an event or reports a story.It's memory when it publishes an old photo of Sassari.It's promotion of the area when it showcases a beach, a tradition or a little-known corner.It's solidarity when it uses its visibility to support an initiative.
And above all, it becomes a community when thousands of Sassarese people, residents and emigrants alike, come together beneath a single post to talk about their city.
So, who is Il Sassarese Medio really?
Perhaps the most accurate answer is this: Il Sassarese Medio is Sassari telling its own story.
There are people who manage the project, of course. There are people who write, select, verify and publish the content.
But on the other side are tens of thousands of people who read, comment, correct, discuss, send photos, report things and suggest stories.
Without that participation, Il Sassarese Medio would simply be a page. With it, it has become a community.
So when someone asks again, “but who is Il Sassarese Medio?”, perhaps the simplest answer is also the one that best represents us: a little bit us. A little bit you. Sassari.