The value-reflexive attitude of Russians to the Internet (the case of Moscow and the Moscow Region)

Abstract

Information and communication technologies, the Internet in particular, have a significant impact on all the aspects of social life. Therefore, it is necessary to study the problems, consequences, and scale of such influence in the sphere of different scientific disciplines (sociology, psychology, and cultural studies) as well as in the sphere of interdisciplinary discourse. There is a need for research adequate to the current situation of transition to a new technological mode, a digital society, which actualizes the demand for the formation of a new type of personality, a new elite. The new elite will be the bearers of the socio-cultural code of deep and systemic information processing, the owners of electronic culture on the basis of critical digital literacy and reflexivity. At the same time, specific empirical studies of recent years abroad and in Russia demonstrate the predominance of competences of information and communication technologies user, which is absolutely insufficient in the digital society. This research aims to analyze the value-reflexive attitude of Russians to the Internet based on the results of a specific sociological survey among the residents of Moscow and the Moscow Region, implemented under the guidance and direct participation of the authors of this article during the period of social restrictions imposed by state authorities in connection with the new coronavirus infection from April to November 2020 by online questionnaire. The research tools included a block of questions on the digitalization of the region, including a number of statements showing the value-reflexive attitude of the respondents to the Internet. The results show that the number of respondents, who regard the Internet as one of the modern civilizational values, exceeds the share of respondents who recognize the dangers of Internet addiction. The authors have revealed that an even smaller percentage of those aware of the relationship of Internet addiction and anonymity on the Internet with the destruction of moral and moral systems, the erasure of the boundaries of personal and public space, psychological problems. A significant proportion of those who exhibit dangerous symptoms of alienation from the real, physical and social world was recorded. It was determined that for the majority of respondents, the Internet space has not become a platform of freedom, creative fulfillment, a friendly environment. The article assumes that economic conditions could become the foundation for bringing people together in the Internet space. Intergenerational differences in the value-reflexive attitude to the Internet space are revealed. The authors draw attention to the fact that the elderly, as the bearers of the deep meanings of traditional cultural forms, reflect the risks and dangers of the Internet space to a greater extent than the young people and adults. The authors link the prospects for further research with the sociological monitoring, which will allow studying the dynamics of digitalization processes in the region, the impact of age characteristics of identity on the attitude to the Internet, and the formation of electronic culture.