Political Effects of Social Networks in Russia

Political Effects of Social Networks in Russia


Mikhaylenok O.M.

Dr. Sci. (Pol.), Prof., Chief Researcher; Head of the Department for Research of Social and Political Relation, Center of political science and political sociology, Institute of Sociology FCTAS RAS, Moscow, Russia (m-oleg-m@yandex.ru); Galina A. MALYSHEVA, . Both – m-oleg-m@yandex.ru

Malysheva G.A.

Junior Researcher of the Department for Research of Social and Political Relations, Center of political science and political sociology, Institute of Sociology FCTAS RAS, Moscow, Russia (lamaga2007@yandex.ru) lamaga2007@yandex.ru

ID of the Article:


For citation:

Mikhaylenok O.M., Malysheva G.A. Political Effects of Social Networks in Russia. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2019. No 2. P. 78-87




Abstract

Analysis of the political aspects of the development of Internet social networks is a promising field in political sociology. The cyberspace of the network performs not only a social and communicative function, but also possesses significant political potential. Online social networks have become a phenomenon of social and political life in modern Russia and influence its dynamics and character, acting as a legitimising power mechanism. Integration of public policy into virtual social space causes formation of network forms of political participation for citizens and their new online identities. At the same time, the specifics of online political interactions limit the opportunities for social dialogue, which is already difficult in Russia due to the existence of clearly expressed ideological and value differences in society. The social Internet space serves as a virtual projection of social contradictions and acts as an arena for the clash of political interests. Social networks, although declaring the principles of solidarity, self-organization and collective identity, are in fact stratified, do not imply equality of users, nor do they provide a balance of their interests. Networks provide a wide range of opportunities for political manipulation and influence curation of public consciousness. In Russia, political power uses a number of tools to implement administrative control over the digital social space, which makes one question viability of the network society project as a modern policy-management alternative. Nevertheless, it is hoped that as the network involvement of Russian citizens increases, the political potential of the virtual communication space will increase, too.


Keywords
social networks; social media; political relations; political involvement; digital technologies; digital inequality; social inequality; civil society; legitimization of political power

References

Abdrakhmanova G. et al. (2018) Digital Economy Indicators in the Russian Federation: 2018: Data Book. Moscow: NIU VShE. (In Russ.)

Abdrakhmanova G. et al. (2018) Digital Economy: a Brief Statistical Collection. Moscow: NIU VShE. (In Russ.)

Baluev D.G., Kaminchenko D.I. (2016) Comparative Analysis of “New” and Social Media in the Context of Socio-political and Historical Factors. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Filosofiya. Sotsiologiya. Politologiya [Tomsk State University Journal of Philosophy Sociology and Political Science]. No. 1: 153–161. DOI: 10.17223/1998863X/33/16. (In Russ.)

Bauman Z. (2008) The Liquid Modernity. Ed. by Y. Asochakov. Saint-Petersburg: Piter. (In Russ.)

Bykov I.A. (2013) Net Political Communication: Theory, Practice and Research Methods: a Monograph. Saint-Petersburg: SPGUTD. (In Russ.)

Bykov I.A., Khall T.E. (2011) Digital Divide and the Internet-users Political Preferences in Russia. Polis. Politicheskie issledovaniya [Polis. Political Studies]. No. 5: 151–164. (In Russ.)

Castells M. (2016) Communication Power: Textbook. Transl. from Eng. N.M. Tylevich. Ed. by A.I. Chernykh. Moscow: NIU VShE. (In Russ.)

Cheng Di (2015) Social Media in Solving Urgent Social and Political Problems. Cand. Diss. SaintPetersburg. (In Russ.)

Maltseva D.V. (2018) Network Аpproach as a Phenomenon in Sociological Theory. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 4: 3–14. DOI: 10.7868/S0132162518040013. (In Russ.)

Miroshnichenko I.V. (2016) Network Public Policy and Management: Monograph. Moscow: ARGAMAKMEDIA. (In Russ.)

Miroshnichenko I.V., Morozova E.V. (2017) Network Public Policy: Outlines of Subject Field. Polis. Politicheskie issledovaniya [Polis. Political Studies]. No. 2: 82–102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17976/ jpps/2017.02.06. (In Russ.)

Neyaskin G.N. (2010) Internet in Political Campaigns of the USA and Russia: Comparative Analysis. Biznes. Obshchestvo. Vlast' [Business. Society. Authority]. No. 5: 144–163. (In Russ.)

Russian Society after the Presidential Elections in 2018: a Request for Change. Information and Analytical Report. (2018) Moscow: FCTAS RAS. (In Russ.)

Rykov Y.G. (2015) Network Inequality and the Structure of Online Communities. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsialnoy antropologii [The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology]. No. 4(81). Vol. XVIII: 144–156. (In Russ.)

Skuratov A.B. (2017) Strats Participants of Local Online Communities: the Main Features and Characteristics. Vestnik YuUrGU. Ser. “Social'no-gumanitarnye nauki” [Bulletin of the South Ural State University. Ser. “Social Sciences and the Humanities”]. No. 1. Vol. 17: 82–88. DOI: 10.14529/ ssh170113 (In Russ.)

Smorgunov L.V., Sherstobitov A.S. (2014) Political Networks: Theory and Methods of Study: Textbook. Moscow: Aspekt Press Publ. (In Russ.)

Soloviev A.I. (2012) “Institutional Networks” of the Russian State and the Strategy of Self-legitimization of the Ruling Regime. Politicheskaya ekspertiza [Political Expertise: POLITEX]. No. 3. Vol. 8: 5–20. (In Russ.)

Soloviev A.I. (2017) Mass Consciousness and Public Policy: Crossing Points and Problems of Interaction. Politicheskaya nauka [Political science]. No. 1: 186–203. (In Russ.)

Volkov D., Goncharov S. (2017) Russian Media-Landscape: Main Trends in Media-Consumption. Vestnik obschestvennogo mneniya. Dannyie. Analiz, Diskussii [The Russian Public Opinion Herald. Data. Analysis. Discussions]. No. 1-2(124): 105–129. URL: http://www.levada.ru/2017/08/22/16440/ (accessed 16.09.2018). (In Russ.)

Volkov D., Kolesnikov A. (2017) We Are Waiting for Change. Is There a Mass Demand for Changes in Russia? Moscow: Moscow Carnegie Center. URL: http://carnegieendowment.org/files/CP_ Kolesnikov_Volkov_web_Rus1.pdf (accessed 20.06.2018). (In Russ.)

Volodenkov S.V. (2017) Technology Manipulation of Public Consciousness in the Internet Space as a Tool of Political Control. Politicheskaya ekspertiza [Political Expertise: POLITEX]. No. 3. Vol. 13: 57–69. (In Russ.)

Volodenkov S.V., Kuznetsov I.I., Evgenyeva T.V. et al. (2014) The Information-technology Design of Political Values in the Russian Segment of Internet Space. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Ser. 12: Politicheskie nauki [Moscow University Bulletin. Ser. 12. Political Science]. No. 5: 113–135. (In Russ.)

Zhezhko-Braun I.V. (2017) Hillari Rodham Clinton and Saul Alinsky: “There Is Only the Fight…” Idei i idealy [Ideas and Ideals]. No. 2 (32). Vol. 1: 103–131. (In Russ.)

Content No 2, 2019