The virtual identity of the Russian Germans

The article explores the phenomenon of virtual identity through the case of the Russian Germans. Based on social networks and various websites, modern manifestations of the identity of the Russian Germans were examined. While active in cyberspace, the Russian Germans often treat the subject of their real-life identity and ethnicity as a purely private matter. However, they do create different communities on the Internet, and here social networks and groups offer them an opportunity to feel they belong to one community. Being scattered geographically has had a negative impact on the formation of a unified community of the Russian Germans, but the Internet and social media help them compensate for that. For the Russian Germans, digitalisation is the only possibility not only to preserve their culture, but also to consolidate what German families in various parts of the world have in common. Most active online are the Germans who emigrated. Communicating on the Internet effectively allows them manifest their ethnic identity that they do not tend to show offline. The virtual identity of the Russian Germans is situational and mobile. Its various manifestations are associated with the mode of expression (creation of groups, text, visual or video blogs, websites, etc.), on the one hand, and with personal motivations (from preserving one's ethno-cultural traditions to establishing oneself in the society), on the other. Active and successful Internet users become famous in the real world, and the virtual identity becomes more relevant than the real one.

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