Social Networks in Russia Negative Community in a Unnetworked Society

Social networks in Russia seem to be a copy of western role models. In fact, they are a product and reflex of post-Soviet reality. The Internet has become a forum of ideological manipulation. Its main function is to produce hedonistic conformism. Seen politically, social networks are less a place of individual freedom than one of power and discipline. Users conform to orders and codes and thus internalise behavioural models. In Russia, social networks reflect a lack of solidarity in life off-line. In a society that is marked by negative construction of identity the result of discredited values and widespread cynicism the community in social networks too often assumes the character of a negative community as well.