SOCIAL NETWORKS IN THE ELECTORAL SPACE OF RUSSIA: TECHNOLOGIES FOR REFLECTING UNSTRUCTURED COLLECTIVE ACTION

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to identify and characterize social networks as an unstructured collective space, their impact on electoral behavior. The results of the development of a theoretical model of the internal and collective efficiency of the electorate are presented to understand the mechanisms by which social networks influence the electorate. A typology is given and a causal relationship between the type of social network and the type of efficiency of the political participation of the population in electoral campaigns is presented. As the main platforms for the unstructured collective action of the electorate, two social networks were analyzed: VKontakte (one of the largest in our country) and Twitter (the most studied platform in the field of political communications). The main research method was a sociological survey of 465 respondents living in the Bryansk region, users of social networks. The secondary analysis of empirical sociological data is carried out. The technology of scale measurement of composite variables of dependence of Internet users of platforms (VKontakte and Twitter) was used. The author established the correlation dependence of the political communications of the electorate in an unstructured collective space, such as social networks on the Internet and the further participation of network users in political life. The level of differentiated influence of various social networks on the unstructured collectivity of the participants in the electoral discourse is determined: for example, VKontakte communications have a significant impact on the collective form of participation in political life, while communication on Twitter has a greater effect on the individual activity of actors.