Social networks of the Kuzbass governor as a tool of political Internet communication between the authorities and society

The aim of the article was to develop the authors' definition of the term “political Internet communications” based on the available Western and Russian definitions of Internet communications with the subsequent use of this term in the analysis of social network accounts of Kuzbass Governor Sergey Tsivilev. To achieve this aim, the authors analyzed the Instagram and YouTube accounts of the Kuzbass governor in terms of identifying key forms of interaction between the authorities and society, building communications in the form of feedback mechanisms from the head of the regional executive power and the population. As a result of the analysis of information on the Instagram network for 2020-2021, the authors identified the main forms of political Internet communications: the topic and content of the post influencing the activity of the discussion in the form of likes and comments left on the post; type of content of information messages; topics of frequently mentioned #hashtags in publications as an opportunity to discuss the proposed topics; correlation between the number of posts, likes and comments. On the YouTube account, such forms of communication are types of information content and topics of publications. The study used Feedspy software as a tool for analyzing and statistically processing content on social networks. The data were systematized in the form of tables and diagrams. The correlation analysis revealed the relationship between the variables - the number of posts (or publications), likes, and comments. The correlation analysis was carried out to explore the content for each separate month of 2021. Using the Chaddock scale, the authors found that there was a noticeable direct relationship between the considered variables on the Instagram account and a high direct relationship on the YouTube one. This made it possible to conclude that information messages in the form of media materials and videos on the YouTube network are a more effective means of communication between the authorities and the population in contrast to the Instagram network. #Hashtags and type of information content are important forms of political Internet communications. While #hashtags allow exchanging opinions on a given topic, the main function of the type of content is to build a stable communication link between the governor and the population by addressing everyday issues in the form of empathy with the personal stories of Kuzbass dwellers or promotion of family values and a healthy lifestyle by the governor. As a result, based on the case of communications between Kuzbass Governor Sergey Tsivilev and the population, political Internet communications are increasingly oriented toward building “feedback” mechanisms using social networks. This, in turn, makes it possible not only to receive a response from the population in the form of likes and comments, but also to evaluate the implemented projects, to know the opinions of citizens about the most significant problems in the region and to turn earlier expressed proposals into management decisions.

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