Mediatization of communications as a factor of transformation of value orientations of Russian youth: Trends and risks (part 1)

Abstract

The purpose of the presented study was to identify the basic value characteristics and potentially conflict-prone contradictions as a result of the impact of the rapid spread of new media on the audience of modern Russian youth. In the course of the analysis, a fundamentally new knowledge, based on a holistic vision of the cultural and historical reality of the formation of a “digital society” in Russia, was obtained about the axiological features of the modern Russian social order, which includes a complexly structured set of moral values of young people. The study included two trajectories of empirical analysis: conducting focus groups to identify and scientifically interpret trends in the formation of content preferences of the young generation in the discourse of using new media, as well as monitoring social networks in order to mark popular communication platforms among young people, assessing the most effective methods of information impact, translation of axiological discourses and articulation of the risks generated in them. To achieve the set scientific objectives, the authors of the study carried out the conceptualization of theoretical constructions of the specifics of new media in modern conditions, presented popular axiological trends identified as a result of a qualitative content analysis of blogs in social networks. The results obtained are correlated with other fundamental studies of domestic scientists studying the issues of youth values in various academic areas, in order to search for correlations and assess the complementarity of conclusions for the subsequent increment of political science knowledge. As a result of the analysis, not only the trends in the transformation of the values of modern Russian youth are articulated, but also the strategic risks determined by the mediatization of communications of the studied age cohort. In this regard, the article developed a model for measuring and preventing the risks of political and axiological transformations among Russian youth based on the development of complementary methods for their assessment in order to build and implement effective state strategies in terms of their change and improvement.