Barash R.E. Patterns of activism and protest in the social network communication of modern russians. Tomsk State University Journal of Philosophy, Sociology and Political Science. 2024. No. 81. P. 79–97.

Abstract

The growing influence of information and communication factors on social selforganization, as well as the networkization of the structure of modern social movements, their “dependence” on Internet communication, their lack of a formalized structure, membership and leadership, determines the unpredictability of the solidarity actions of their participants. The transformation of digital communication into the basis of the communication mechanism of participants in almost all modern public associations acting, among others, under the slogans of global goals or frankly post-material motives, sets the task of finding new specific attributes and patterns of movements of modern virtualized selforganization, and determines the search for specific patterns of digitalized activism, as well as the definition of methodological grounds for their study. Within the framework of this article, such communities, whose participants interact mainly virtually on various topical issues of public discontent or are motivated by the desire for social justice, combining discontent with specific problems and general social injustice in their agenda, are defined as the newest or post-new social movements. In the article, the author defines the newest social movements as peculiar structures of self-organization, whose participants are connected by virtual communication rather than regular participation within a clear hierarchy, are motivated by a sudden actualization of problems of both material and non-material nature, and pursue the main goal of influencing political decision-making by the authorities. Referring to the data of all-Russian sociological research, the author examines the impact of digital communication on the current attitudes of Russians’ mass consciousness, especially on citizens’ readiness for civic self-organization and political activism. The author pays special attention to the study of the impact of the widespread use of the Internet and access to social networks on the demand for protest ideas by citizens.