Network communities of resource-type regions of Siberia: characteristics and relationships

The article examines network communities of resource-type regions of Siberia, which are a space for network interaction between the main actors of regional communication. Research interest in communities of resource-type regions is due to a number of circumstances. Firstly, the territory's spatial extent and low population density, difficult transport accessibility reduce the number of direct communications, which can be compensated for by virtual network communication. Secondly, in the presence of rich suitable resources, there are disproportions of social resources in resource-type regions, thereby actualizing the study of social groups - holders of the agenda of territories' social development. Thirdly, the quasi-publicity of socio-political interaction in these regions provokes an exceptional opportunity for the population to express their opinions in social networks. The aim of this article is to analyze network communities of resource-type regions of Siberia. The article uses data obtained by the authors during two research stages. At the first stage in 2023, we analyzed the online communities of the social network VKontakte for each resource-type region of Siberia (N = 458), selected according to the criteria of mentioning the region, territory in the name of the community, as well as the potential for discussing social and political problems of residents of the regions. At the second stage, the research base was expanded to 1174 unique online communities in the social network VKontakte, while maintaining the affiliation of the communities to the resource-type regions of Siberia, but specifying the thematic connection with each group of regional actors and the potential ability of these groups to discuss their problems in the sought communities. The data obtained made it possible to build a topology of online communities of the resourcetype regions of Siberia, to show the multi-layered structure of its network actors (obvious and “non-obvious”) participating in socio-political interaction. The most developed at this stage in regional network interaction are communities of state and regional authorities, which mainly perform an information function, but are not “core” in network interaction. The study of gender, national, youth and other regional network communities, as well as further indepth analysis of the topological structure of network socio-political communication, and the search for opportunities for its development are promising. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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