The Potential of Social Media in Russia

Abstract

Social media was one of the most influential platforms used by counterparts in many recent contentious political events all over the world. Both the statist and protest groups used web-based social networks for political mobilization during the electoral period of 2011–2012 in Russia. This paper focuses on two basic aspects of political communication in the Russian segment of the Internet. Firstly, it discusses the emergence of pro-elite and protest networks, which aim to mobilize political participation during the electoral period. Secondly, it explores the evolution of such networks within 18 months and offline activity, which is determined by contention on social media. In our survey, we take the pro-elite and protest segments of the Russian social network, "Vkontakte", as an object of analysis. We use network analysis to examine how the network appeared and occurred during the electoral period, as well as how such networks have changed 18 months later. The study of the transformations of the protest segments showed a significant shift in civic engagement. One and a half years after the electoral cycle of 2011–2012, the network protest groups institutionalized in NGOs or, at least, in the civil initiatives of different areas: election observation, anti-corruption activity and local issues, etc.

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