SOCIAL NETWORK VKONTAKTE AS AN UP-TO-DATE CHANNEL OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

Abstract

The author considers and estimates the level of activity and effectiveness of Russian political sphere representatives’ presence in the social network VKontakte from the viewpoint of possibilities to use the given resource as an instrument of political technologies and PR. The article comprises a complex empiric research the object of which is internet activity of Russian politicians in the process of the election campaign of 2016, and also a comparative analysis of the results with elements of descriptiveness. The author uses up-to-date instruments and channels of internet-communication and methods of data collection and analysis – online instruments for monitoring and systematizing data in particular. Application of qualitative, quantitative and other methods makes it possible to make a conclusion about the level of politicians’ activity, to measure the degree of their involvement into the native space of the social network VKontakte from the viewpoint of political participation, and to evaluate the ability to form united image area, to react to the electorates’ needs immediately, use up-to-date means of backward communication in political processes effectively.