E. A. Koval, V. A. Pronkina. Formation of a Social Imaginary «Good Society» in the Blogosphere of the Region

UDC 316:130.2(470.345)

E. A. Koval, V. A. Pronkina. Formation of a Social Imaginary «Good Society» in the Blogosphere of the Region

The paper was prepared within the research project “Normative foundations of “the good society” (grant MK-5295.2016.6 from the President of the Russian Federation).

KOVAL Ekaterina Aleksandrovna, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor at the Department of Law Enforcement Activities and Enforcement Proceedings, Middle Volga Institute (Branch) of Russian State University of Justice in the City of Saransk (Saransk, Russian Federation) (e-mail: nwifesc@yandex.ru). ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0069-5335. ResearcherID: A-5797-2015

PRONKINA Victoria Aleksandrovna, 2nd Year Student Pursuing a Master’s Degree in Sociology, National Research Ogarev Mordovia State University (Saransk, Russian Federation) (e-mail: viktoryakeny@gmail.com). ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0475-1234

Key words: region, social imaginary, “good society”, blogosphere, hate speech

Abstract. The paper discusses the formation of the image of a regional society in the blogosphere. This image is an important component of the image of a region, but unlike the image, it is based not on the control theory but on the social imaginary — the ideas of people about the society they live in, as well as about the prospects and directions of development of this society. ‘The good society’ is a constructive variant of the social imaginary.

Synopsis. Introduction: the social nature of the human being contributes to formation of the views on the value-normative social space and development of the society. Study of the social imaginary is necessary for taking administrative decisions, determining the tactics and strategy of social development and maintaining the optimal social practices. Analysis of the blogosphere seems to be a promising way of studying the social imaginary. The paper examines the image of a particular region, the Republic of Mordovia, formed in a separate segment of the blogosphere.

Materials and Methods: the authors applied the method of content analysis; blog posts mentioning the Republic of Mordovia or the city of Saransk and comments to them were chosen as the object of the analysis. Posts from the “LiveJournal” from 14 June to 31 December 2016 were analyzed.

Results: the blogosphere has negative, positive and axiologically neutral images of the regional society. Formation of negative images is significantly affected by the hate speech the bloggers used to describe the value-normative space in which the regional society exists (the case study of the Republic of Mordovia).

Discussion and Conclusions: the optimal variant of the social imaginary is ‘the good society’, the paradoxically reachable social ideal. Transmission of the idea of ‘the good society» at the regional level in the blogosphere may serve to unite the members of the regional society with a view to its improvement, institutionalization and maintenance of the value-normative structure of the society optimal for its development. However, the use of the hate speech when describing and discussing the problems of the region hinders the formation of such a type of the social imaginary as ‘the good society’.

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Contribution of the authors:

KOVAL Ekaterina Aleksandrovna — academic advising, theoretical analysis of the issue, interpretation of the results of the content analysis.

PRONKINA Victoria Aleksandrovna — selection of the research methodology, implementation of the content analysis.

For citation: Koval E.A., Pronkina V.A. Formation of a Social Imaginary «Good Society» in the Blogosphere of the Region. REGIONOLOGIYA = REGIONOLOGY. 2017; 1(98):92—104.

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