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The digital socio-political agenda and its conceptualization within the new media ecology framework

Timofeyeva L.N.,

The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Moscow, Russia, timofeeva-lidiya@inbox.ru

elibrary_id: 77245 | ORCID: 0000-0001-7498-416X | RESEARCHER_ID: N-3818-2018

Ryabchenko N.A.,

Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russia, rrrnatali@mail.ru

elibrary_id: 637940 | ORCID: 0000-0001-6980-2894 | RESEARCHER_ID: Q-8079-2016

Malysheva O.P.,

Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russia, malisheva_83@mail.ru

elibrary_id: 891265 | ORCID: 0000-0001-8285-0508 | RESEARCHER_ID: E-8066-2018

Gnedash A.A.,

Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russia, anna_gnedash@inbox.ru

elibrary_id: 298533 | ORCID: 0000-0002-3516-107X | RESEARCHER_ID: S-1350-2016

DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2022.02.04

Rubric: Theme of the issue: In the beginning was the word, then came the digit

For citation:

Timofeyeva L.N., Ryabchenko N.A., Malysheva O.P., Gnedash A.A. The digital socio-political agenda and its conceptualization within the new media ecology framework. – Polis. Political Studies. 2022. No. 2. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2022.02.04

The reported study was funded by RFBR and EISR according to the research project № 21-011-31826 “Deliberative practice of interaction of parliamentary parties with the electorate: structural-communicative analysis” (2021).

Abstract

In the first quarter of the 21st century, the leading role of mass media (press, radio, and TV) in agenda setting was challenged by alternative and citizen digital journalism. As a result, the conceptual framework of the agenda-setting construct has changed. Social media and online influencers contributed to the development of a digital, namely hybrid, socio-political agenda. The article deals with the features of alternative social media and reveals the differences between alternative media and mainstream media; defines the notion of “digital socio-political agenda”; substantiates the role of influencers in shaping digital socio-political agenda; and reveals the influence of the digital socio-political agenda on the behavioral patterns of real-life citizen socio-political participation. The article presents a novel theoretical model of the digital socio-political agenda developed by the authors, which was designed to explain the functioning of a multidimensional and multilayered network. The digital socio-political agenda model has two dimensions: the “Official discourse” (networked data retrieved from the sites of mainstream and pro-government media, governmental bodies, political parties) and the “Network discourse” (networked data retrieved from social media and used to construct the network of “Users”, “Messages”, “Hashtags”, and “Emoji”). These dimensions are in constant interaction, which gives rise to a new digital socio-political agenda, in which the state loses its leadership role. 

Keywords

media ecology, digital socio-political agenda, online space, network approach, network analysis, Data Science, Big Data, modeling, official discourse, network discourse, coronavirus pandemic, constitutional amendments, mass media and alternative media, social networks.

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