THE ROLE OF VIRTUAL PROTEST IN THE SYSTEM OF PROTEST PUBLIC COMMUNICATION

Abstract

The article is devoted to the issue of using means of the Internet in the protest communication system. In the context of politics the possibilities of the Internet as a source are not fully researched. The author analyzes socio-political phenomenon of virtual protest and its value in the development of political process, considers so-called ‘hacktivism’ as a new kind of political participation and evaluates prospectives of using the Internet as a powerful instrument of protest activity. The issues, which can create possibilities of social networks and their role in social communication, are specially highlighted. The important part of the article is devoted to observing protests in Russia at the end of 2011 and at the beginning of 2012 and the events of the Arab spring as well as influence of social networks on those events.