Локальные акторы публичной сферы и их повестка в социальных медиа

Darja I. Judina

doi:10.21638/spbu12.2023.304

Authors

Darja I. Judina St. Petersburg State University, 7–9, Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu12.2023.304

Abstract

The transformation of the public sphere, caused by the influence of social media on public communication, encourages researchers to adapt existing tools for measuring public opinion and develop new ones. One of these tools is the procedure for creating a sample of actors who form public opinion in social media. Moreover, this procedure determines the methodological component of the study and also reflects the theoretical approach to measuring public opinion, which is derived from our view of the public sphere. In our study, we proposed and tested our version of classification of actors in the public sphere of St. Petersburg, using data from the social networking site VKontakte. Owing to the broad common agenda generated by the coronavirus epidemic, we could analyze the great variety of actors shaping the public opinion of citizens in the spring and summer of 2020. The final classification contains online communities and personal pages on the city and district level owned by the media, government bureaucratic organizations, politicians and parties, interest groups, business organizations and entrepreneurs. We also described the main elements of their agenda and ranked St. Petersburg public opinion makers by the share of interest from VKontakte users. The wide variety of agenda types obtained as a result of the analysis: news, reports, complaints, propaganda, agitation, advertising, entertainment, leads us to reconsider the indicators for selecting texts from social media. The research has expanded the understanding of public actors engaged in shaping public opinion in social media and their agenda

Keywords:

public sphere, social media, public opinion, public actors, Russian media environment

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Литература

Anstead N., O’Loughlin B. Social media analysis and public opinion: The 2010 UK general election // Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 2015. No. 20 (2). P. 204–220.

Baum M.A., Potter P.B. Media, public opinion, and foreign policy in the age of social media // The Journal of Politics. 2019. No. 81 (2). P. 747–756.

McGregor S.C. “Taking the temperature of the room”: How political campaigns use social media to understand and represent public opinion // Public Opinion Quarterly. 2020. No. 84 (S1). P. 236–256.

Bergström A., Jervelycke Belfrage M. News in social media: Incidental consumption and the role of opinion leaders // Digital Journalism. 2018. No. 6 (5). P. 583–598.

Хабермас Ю. Структурное изменение публичной сферы: исследование относительно категории буржуазного общества. М.: Весь Мир, 2016.

Юдин Г.Б. Общественное мнение, или Власть цифр. СПб.: Изд-во Европейского университета в Санкт-Петербурге, 2020.

Walter S. Three models of the European public sphere: An analysis of the actor structure in EU news // Journalism Studies. 2017. No. 18 (6). P. 749–770.

Price V. The public and public opinion in political theories // The SAGE handbook of public opinion research. New York, 2008. P. 11–24.

Юдин Г. Россия как плебисцитарная демократия // Социологическое обозрение. 2021. T. 20 (2). C. 9–47.

Cohen J. Deliberation and democratic legitimacy // Debates in Contemporary Political Philosophy. Milton Park: Routledge, 2005. P. 352–370.

Thompson D.F. Deliberative democratic theory and empirical political science // Annual Review of Political Science. 2008. No. 11. P. 497–520.

Luskin R.C., Fishkin J. S. Deliberative polling, public opinion, and democracy: The case of the National Issues Convention, Slightly revised from a paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association. Boston, 1998.

Price V., Neijens P. Opinion quality in public opinion research // International Journal of Public Opinion Research. 1997. No. 9 (4). P. 336–360.

Meese J., Hurcombe E. Facebook*, news media and platform dependency: The institutional impacts of news distribution on social platforms // New Media & Society. 2020. No. 23 (8). P. 2367–2384. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820926472

Kleis Nielsen R., Ganter S.A. Dealing with digital intermediaries: A case study of the relations between publishers and platforms // New Media & Society. 2018. No. 20 (4). P. 1600–1617.

Vartanova E. Russian media: a call for theorising the economic change // Russian Journal of Communication. 2019. No. 11 (1). P. 22–36.

Metzgar E.T., Kurpius D.D., Rowley K.M. Defining hyperlocal media: Proposing a framework for discussion // New Media & Society. 2011. No. 13 (5). P. 772–787.

Довбыш О.С. Роль гиперлокальных медиа в коммуникации между властью и обществом в российских регионах // Журнал исследований социальной политики. 2020. Т. 18, № 3. С. 475–490.

Litvinenko A., Nigmatullina K. Local dimensions of media freedom: A comparative analysis of news media landscapes in 33 Russian regions // Demokratizatsiia: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization. 2020. No. 28 (3). P. 393–418.

Judina D., Tsybina O. Assessing electoral potential by interest groups in social media in the context of Russian political system // A.Antonyuk, N.Basov (eds). Networks in the Global World VI.NetGloW 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems. 2022. No. 663. P. 152–170.

Dubois E., Gaffney D. The multiple facets of influence: Identifying political influentials and opinion leaders on Twitter // American Behavioral Scientist. 2014. No. 58 (10). P. 1260–1277.

Marcos-García S., Alonso-Muñoz L., López-Meri A. Extending influence on social media: The behaviour of political talk-show opinion leaders on Twitter // Communication & Society. 2020. No. 33 (2). P. 277–293.

Bertot J.C., Jaeger P.T., Grimes J.M. Using ICTs to create a culture of transparency: E-government and social media as openness and anti-corruption tools for societies // Government Information Quarterly. 2010. No. 27 (3). P. 264–271.

Mergel I. A framework for interpreting social media interactions in the public sector // Government Information Quarterly. 2013. No. 30 (4). P. 327–334.

Mossberger K., Wu Y., Crawford J. Connecting citizens and local governments? Social media and interactivity in major US cities // Government Information Quarterly. 2013. No. 30 (4). P. 351–358.

Sobaci M.Z., Karkin N. The use of twitter by mayors in Turkey: Tweets for better public services? // Government Information Quarterly. 2013. No. 30 (4). P. 417–425.

Bykov I.A., Martyanov D. S. Studying political communities in vk.com with network analysis // Galactica Media: Journal of Media Studies. 2021. No. 3 (1). P. 64–78.

ФОМ. Социальные сети и мессенджеры. URL: https://fom.ru/SMI-i-internet/14555 (дата обращения: 19.11.2021).

API VK. Метод groups.search. URL: https://vk.com/dev/groups.search (дата обращения: 19.11.2021).

Gruzd A., Tsyganova K. Information wars and online activism during the 2013/2014 crisis in Ukraine: Examining the social structures of pro‐and anti‐Maidan groups // Policy & Internet. 2015. No. 7 (2). P. 121–158.

Myagkov M., Shchekotin E.V., Kashpur V.V., Goiko V.L., Baryshev A.A. Activity of non-parliamentary opposition communities in social networks in the context of the Russian 2016 parliamentary election // East European Politics. 2018. No. 34 (4). P. 483–502.

Новая нормальность — это навсегда? // Фонтанка. URL: https://www.fontanka.ru/longreads/69810638/ (дата обращения: 01.08.2021).

В Петербурге три больницы остановили прием пациентов из-за COVID-19 // РБК. URL: https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/5e84c1989a794783cf5582bc (дата обращения: 01.08.2021).

API VK. URL: https://vk.com/dev/methods (дата обращения: 19.11.2021).

Judina D., Platonov K. Newsworthiness and the public’s response in Russian social media: A comparison of state and private news organizations // Media and Communication. 2019. No. 7 (3). P. 157–166. http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/mac.v7i3.1910

Gillin P. The new influencers: A marketer’s guide to the new social media. Fresno: Linden Publishing, 2007.

Khamis S., Ang L., Welling R. Self-branding,‘micro-celebrity’ and the rise of Social Media Influencers // Celebrity Studies. 2017. No. 8 (2). P. 191–208.

Kay S., Mulcahy R., Parkinson J. When less is more: The impact of macro and micro social media influencers’ disclosure // Journal of Marketing Management. 2020. No. 36 (3–4). P. 248–278.

* Meta признана экстремистской организацией в Российской Федерации.

References

Anstead N., O’Loughlin B. Social media analysis and public opinion: The 2010 UK general election. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2015, no. 20 (2), pp. 204–220.

Baum M.A., Potter P.B. Media, public opinion, and foreign policy in the age of social media. The Journal of Politics, 2019, no. 81 (2), pp. 747–756.

McGregor S.C. “Taking the temperature of the room”: How political campaigns use social media to understand and represent public opinion. Public Opinion Quarterly, 2020, no. 84 (S1), pp. 236–256.

Bergström A., Jervelycke Belfrage M. News in social media: Incidental consumption and the role of opinion leaders. Digital Journalism, 2018, no. 6 (5), pp. 583–598.

Habermas J. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An inquiry into a category of bourgeois society. Moscow, Ves’ Mir Publ., 2016. (In Russian)

Yudin G.B. Public Opinion or Power of Digits. St. Petersburg, European University Publishing in St. Petersburg, 2020. (In Russian)

Walter S. Three models of the European public sphere: An analysis of the actor structure in EU news. Journalism Studies, 2017, no. 18 (6), pp. 749–770.

Price V. The public and public opinion in political theories. The SAGE handbook of public opinion research (pp. 11–24). New York, 2008.

Yudin G. Russia as a plebiscitary democracy. Sotsiologicheskoe obozrenie, 2021, vol. 20 (2), pp. 9–47. (In Russian)

Cohen J. Deliberation and democratic legitimacy. Debates in Contemporary Political Philosophy (pp. 352–370). Milton Park, Routledge, 2005.

Thompson D. F. Deliberative democratic theory and empirical political science. Annual Review of Political Science, 2008, no. 11, pp. 497–520.

Luskin R.C., Fishkin J. S. Deliberative polling, public opinion, and democracy: The case of the National Issues Convention, slightly Revised from a Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association. Boston, 1998.

Price V., Neijens P. Opinion quality in public opinion research. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 1997, no. 9 (4), pp. 336–360.

Meese J., Hurcombe E. Facebook*, news media and platform dependency: The institutional impacts of news distribution on social platforms. New Media & Society, 2020, no. 23 (8), pp. 2367–2384. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820926472

Kleis Nielsen R., Ganter S.A. Dealing with digital intermediaries: A case study of the relations between publishers and platforms. New Media & Society, 2018, no. 20 (4), pp. 1600–1617.

Vartanova E. Russian media: A call for theorising the economic change. Russian Journal of Communication, 2019, no. 11 (1), pp. 22–36.

Metzgar E.T., Kurpius D.D., Rowley K.M. Defining hyperlocal media: Proposing a framework for discussion. New Media & Society, 2011, no. 13 (5), pp. 772–787.

Dovbysh O. S. Hyperlocal media as a communication channel between state and society in Russia’s regions. The Journal of Social Policy Studies, 2020, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 475–490. (In Russian)

Litvinenko A., Nigmatullina K. Local dimensions of media freedom: A comparative analysis of news media landscapes in 33 Russian regions. Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization, 2020, no. 28 (3), pp. 393–418.

Judina D., Tsybina O. Assessing electoral potential by interest groups in social media in the context of Russian political system. A.Antonyuk, N.Basov (eds). Networks in the Global World VI.NetGloW 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, 2022, no. 663, pp. 152–170.

Dubois E., Gaffney D. The multiple facets of influence: Identifying political influentials and opinion leaders on Twitter. American Behavioral Scientist, 2014, no. 58 (10), pp. 1260–1277.

Marcos-García S., Alonso-Muñoz L., López-Meri A. Extending influence on social media: The behaviour of political talk-show opinion leaders on Twitter. Communication & Society, 2020, no. 33 (2), pp. 277–293.

Bertot J.C., Jaeger P.T., Grimes J.M. Using ICTs to create a culture of transparency: E-government and social media as openness and anti-corruption tools for societies. Government Information Quarterly, 2010, no. 27 (3), pp. 264–271.

Mergel I. A framework for interpreting social media interactions in the public sector. Government Information Quarterly, 2013, no. 30 (4), pp. 327–334.

Mossberger K., Wu Yo., Crawford J. Connecting citizens and local governments? Social media and interactivity in major US cities. Government Information Quarterly, 2013, no. 30 (4), pp. 351–358.

Sobaci M.Z., Karkin N. The use of twitter by mayors in Turkey: Tweets for better public services? Government Information Quarterly, 2013, no. 30 (4), pp. 417–425.

Bykov I.A., Martyanov D. S. Studying political communities in vk.com with network analysis. Galactica Media: Journal of Media Studies, 2021, no. 3 (1), pp. 64–78.

FOM. Social networking sites and messengers. Available at: https://fom.ru/SMI-i-internet/14555 (accessed: 19.11.2021). (In Russian)

API VK. Method of groups.search. Available at: https://vk.com/dev/groups.search (accessed: 19.11.2021). (In Russian)

Gruzd A., Tsyganova K. Information wars and online activism during the 2013/2014 crisis in Ukraine: Examining the social structures of pro‐and anti‐Maidan groups. Policy & Internet, 2015, no. 7 (2). pp. 121–158.

Myagkov M., Shchekotin E.V., Kashpur V.V., Goiko V.L., Baryshev A.A. Activity of non-parliamentary opposition communities in social networks in the context of the Russian 2016 parliamentary election. East European Politics, 2018, no. 34 (4), pp. 483–502.

New normality — forever? Fontanka. Available at: https://www.fontanka.ru/longreads/69810638/ (accessed: 01.08.2021). (In Russian)

Three hospitals in St. Petersburg stopped accepting patients due to COVID-19. RBC.Available at: https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/5e84c1989a794783cf5582bc (accessed: 01.08.2021). (In Russian)

API VK.Available at: https://vk.com/dev/methods (accessed: 19.11.2021). (In Russian)

Judina D., Platonov K. Newsworthiness and the public’s response in Russian social media: A comparison of state and private news organizations. Media and Communication, 2019, no. 7 (3), pp. 157–166. http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/mac.v7i3.1910

Gillin P. The New Influencers: A marketer’s guide to the new social media. Fresno, Linden Publishing, 2007.

Khamis S., Ang L., Welling R. Self-branding, “micro-celebrity” and the rise of Social Media Influencers. Celebrity Studies, 2017, no. 8 (2), pp. 191–208.

Kay S., Mulcahy R., Parkinson J. When less is more: The impact of macro and micro social media influencers’ disclosure. Journal of Marketing Management, 2020, no. 36 (3–4), pp. 248–278.

* Meta is recognized as an extremist organization in Russian Federation