The Influence of the Internet on the Formation of Virtual Communities and Expansion of Boundaries of Civil Society during the Large-Scale War with the Russian Federation

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study the social impact of the use of e-communications on the state of civil society of Ukraine in the conditions of a large-scale war against the Russian Federation. To achieve the goal, the author substantiated the political component of the introduction of e-communications, features, specificity and differences of territorial and virtual communities of GS, determined ways to counter the negative effects of the manipulative mechanisms of the aggressor country. The article uses statistical, comparative, monitoring methods, systemic and functional methodological approaches. The author proves that the development of e-communications is a prerequisite for changes in the activities of organizations, communities and politicians which is becoming more and more transparent and must meet the expectations of the increasingly active HS. Changes are taking place in state and non-state bodies, providing access to them, increasing transparency, increasing the opportunity for citizens to participate in the decision-making process, etc. Politics largely depends on the opinion of citizens, their communities and organizations. Political power is becoming more decentralized, and there are more and more centers of power. The Internet leads to its decentralization, to the formation of a model of a new type of democracy, thanks to convergent processes between representative and direct democracy. Citizens are getting more and more information in real time and decisions about politics and politicians are coming in real time. Support for Internet messaging technologies increases opportunities for citizens to directly participate in politics. Analysis of unifying and network features of a new type of e-democracy and other characteristics, with which it is connected – protest and anti-system movements, are transformed in the direction of "smart communities" or "smart crowds", because their actions are implemented simultaneously in virtual and real space.