Public Sphere, Virtualization, Rhizome: Communicative Practices of Runet Social Media

• Published in: Logos et Praxis 2019-02 (4), p.18-30
• Main Authors: Mlechko, Aleksandr, Shamaev, Ivan, Didenko, Olga, Kozlova, Olesja
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• ISSN: 2587-9715
• DOI: 10.15688/lp.jvolsu.2018.4.3

In the present work, the interrelation of social media with the philosophical thought of poststructuralism is investigated. The nature of the manifestation of this connection, the reasons for its actualization, the main one being the crisis of confidence in traditional media, is largely related to poststructuralist world outlook and attitude. Particular attention is paid to the structure of social media, the emphasis is on their nonlinearity. The image of the rhizome, described by J. Deleuze and F. Guattari, helps to reveal the peculiarities of the text functioning within the social media space and the formation of an interpretative-commentary complex around it.The latter is capable of changing the initial intentions in many ways, and here correlation with the poststructuralist idea of the "death of the author" is traced. Semantic dominants of this non-linear system are associated both with public expectations and with the activities of certain political actors and business structures. As a result, the interpretative-commentary complex acquires the features of a poly-subject, affecting the subject-object dichotomy, which underlies the classical models of communication. The relationship of social media with the philosophical thought of poststructuralism is also studied in the context of the public sphereideas. Modern interactive media are distinguished by the interpenetration of collective social and individual personal beginnings: the topics that the public and certain social groups consider most relevant are revealed here. In addition, a large number of interpretations are allowed. At the same time, the discussion is mainly limited to the presentation of certain views without establishing common ground, so we cannot yet talk about the space of the classical public sphere. Separately, the issue of increasing image symbols within the communicative space of social media is raised, it is considered in the context of the theory of simulacra by J. Baudrillard. Social media simultaneously acts as a product of the virtual environment, and as a reaction to it, where network activity correlates with other types of activity. In the present work, a conclusion about the complex nature of relationship between social media and modern philosophical thought is made. A systematic study of constructs that have an impact on the communicative practices of social media provides the most objective ideas about this phenomenon.