The large-scale introduction of computers into professional and everyday human activities, the formation of a global mass communication system based on the Internet and the formation of a single network space formed the basis of a modern social communication system. But at the same time, despite the long period of their development, there was no unambiguous concept denoting the phenomenon of Internet-based media, which includes means of communication, as well as the social-network interaction environment formed by them. The authors analyze four concepts used to display the media phenomenon: (1) information and communication environment, (2) social network space, (3) media space and (4) public communication space. Analysis shows that each of these concepts focuses on a specific aspect of the communications of modern society. The information and communication environment is a semi-structured set of computers and information and telecommunication technologies that allow organizing actor interactions to coordinate their activities in the storage, transmission, processing of information. A social network space is rhizome from social media, which allows users to organize online communication and produce user-generated content. Media space is a complex configuration of social media related to the production and consumption of media, the unity of which, within the framework of the information picture of the world, holds a certain social space together. The public communications space is a set of social media aimed at mainstreaming socially significant problems and discussing in the social-network space.

The paper is dedicated to the characteristics of online communities in the virtual space. The study is based on the review of manuscripts on social interactions within online and offline communities in social reading of this term, and represents the key characteristics, similarities and differences of interaction in such communities. The analysis of sources suggests that online and real (offline) communities are largely similar in their features, and that virtual communities as self-organizing networks of interactive interaction, like real social communities, are formed on the basis of the common interests and goals of their participants. Real and virtual communities are located in the same social space, virtual communities take on some characteristics of traditional ones, and vice versa. The possibility of supplementing or replacing spatial connections in real communities with virtual interaction forms the socalled convergent communities. Like virtual ones, they are characterized by a high emotional involvement of community members in the communication process, but at the same time, they lose some of the properties traditionally inherent in communities due to a single territory, history, culture, and have a high potential to form a modified, virtual environment of interaction.

The paper is dedicated to the analysis of the essence of strategic communications of museums in the context of modern cultural genesis. The ever-increasing transformation of the social environment, associated both with the growing mediatization of society, changes in the museum practices, development of communication technologies and tools, and with the growing role of the audience, which increasingly influences the work of cultural institutions and the mass media, determines the focus of attention of representatives of the relevant museum departments to search for new communication strategies and tactics. In order to comprehend the strategic communications of museum institutions in St. Petersburg, the author conducted a sociological survey of residents and guests of the city about their awareness of the museums of the Northern capital. Fragmentation and insufficiency in measurable indicators of the effectiveness of communication of the museum institutions of the city is noted. It is concluded that the respondents are most aware of the top 3 museums: Hermitage, Russian Museum and Kunstkamera; the majority of respondents are ready to go to these museums in the near future.

The article considers the process and result of the specific transition of phenomena, commercial in origin and functions, into a socio-cultural non-commercial space with their subsequent transforma tion into mechanisms of cultural transmission. In this review, they are conditionally designated as “generalized brands”. The author made an attempt to identify the main positive and negative features of the process of the emergence of such a brand in the company and in the society. The article also provides the concept of habitus of Pierre Bourdieu as a theoretical basis for analyzing the formation and development of generalized brands. The process of brand generalization can, according to the author, become the subject of sociological research, since such brands form new social actions, behavioral models in society. Perhaps “habitus” will hel p to resolve questions about the causes of generalization, its consequences for society in order to understand the impact of processes, the implementation of their intra-economic fields, on processes, implementation in other social fields. Based on the results of the first stage of empirical research, the author puts forward some hypotheses and draws the first conclusions about the specifics of this transition, in particular, about the peculiarities of filling the habitus of a modern individual with non-commercial versions of these phenomena.

The article is devoted to the analysis of fairytale character and its functioning in the context of globalization. Globalization process intensifies reverse tendency: enhancement of tradition and social community integration based on the values of national identity. Fairytale characters are regarded as archetypal representations, which form national identity and traditionality. The linguistic combination of words “fairytale character” and “brand” is regarded as a social spheres interpenetration marker. Fairytale character functions within social, politic, economic spheres, which are diffuse to each other. Hence, a fairytale character starts to be not only cultural symbol, but a marketing strategy object and ideologic platform for social community integration. The projects, the main characters of which are fairy tale characters, are considered as very essential for social communities integrity preservation process. Government, mass media and communication and business have a significant role to play in such projects development. It is shown that, since modern society is characterized by a diffuse interpenetration of social spheres, it can be assumed that a fairy tale character can function as a cultural and as a marketing project.

The article represents the results of a study of digital technologies of the legislative bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, aimed at joint decisionmaking with the participation of citizens. A new focus of attention is the consideration of the compliance of the development of information and communication technologies of legislative bodies with the level of independence and activity of society in different regions, while the cuttent study is dedicated to the most innovative regions of Russia. This choice is motivated by the fact that the independence and activity of citizens, that is characteristic for innovative territories, creates favorable conditions for the development of co-management technologies. The authors analyse the practice of participatory digital interaction of 17 Russian regions included in the groups of strong and medium-strong innovators. The sudy is based on the analysis of the official documents, relevant sections of official websites, messages on social networks, and news reports for the period 2010–2020. This allowed to determine the major forms of electronic participation of citizens in the activities of the legislative bodies of innovative subjects of the Russia. The results are correlated with the social characteristics of regions and compared with the experience of other countries.

The paper is dedicated to substantiation of the starting positions for determining the theoretical and methodological foundations for the system of information and psychological protection of the Armed Forces as an object of development and military sociological analysis. This study is the first in a planned series of articles devoted to this problem, as well as the beginning of a scientific discussion about the conceptual foundations for improving  the “traditional” mechanisms for ensuring the information security of the Russian army and sociological support for the implementation of this process. As a result of the analysis, the author determines the essence and functional role of the information war as an information and psychological component of the hybrid war strategy, and reveals its structural elements as a process of implementation of communicative practices by competing subjects of world politics at various levels. Based on the analysis of modern methods and mechanisms of damaging information and psychological impact, the following are determined: (1) levels (contours) of the protection system against these threats and (2) security objects corresponding to these levels, the state of which may be the subject of military sociological analysis and evaluation of the effectiveness of protection measures.

The article reveals the international aspects of communicative strategies for the functioning of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs adopted by transnational companies. The authors consider the dynamics of CSR in the problem-chronological perspective using the methods of strategic analysis. They first trace the history of the emergence of such programs and the evaluation system created by various international and regional organizations, then analyze the dynamics of CSR programs during the COVID-19 pandemic and during the period of sanctions against Russia in 2022. The authors consider that if the challenges of 2020–2021 caused significant changes in the understanding of business responsibility to the population and strengthened the reputational factor in the CSR system, then the sanctions 2022 have demonstrated the internal contradictions of corporate responsibility programs, originally designed to ensure the well-being of the territories where these businesses are located.

The authors propose an approach to assessing the social efficiency of small and medium businesses relevant in the context of the current risks of entrepreneurial activity. The article gives the author’s interpretation of the concept of social efficiency of business, where considerable role is assigned to corporate social responsibility as an element of social efficiency. The authors analyze the key risks of entrepreneurial activity that affect social efficiency and describe the connection of such risks with communication with various actors in business environment. In the final part of the work, the authors represent the results of a study (survey of business executives, N=412) devoted to the analysis of the relationship between the social efficiency of small and medium-sized businesses and communication with key audiences. It has been found that small and medium business representatives are aware of the impact of social efficiency on the profitability of the enterprise in the long term. Besides, it was revealed that the implementation of social performance indicators is linked by the management of enterprises with communication with other organizations and with personnel, though a significant part of the respondents also noted the importance of communication with consumers.

The article is dedicated to the modern content of university reputation. It reveals the correlation of the concepts of reputation and image, and provides on overview of main factors influencing the reputation of universities. Within the study, the authors rely on the approaches of international rating agencies to determine the academic reputation of universities and the methodology for determining the indicators of ranking universities. The authors proceed from the assumption that the transformation processes taking place in the field of education show that academic reputation alone is no longer enough to attract applicants and representatives of other interested groups. Based on the results of the study, the article proposes the use of the concept of public (or social) reputation, as is customary in the business environment. At the same time, the authors distinguish “traditional” and digital contours of reputation. They note that the specificity of the educational sphere is determined by its diversity and multivector nature of the results of the activities of educational institutions, which determines the specifics of the use of communication tools in the formation and preservation of the public reputation of universities.

in modern society, any organization is forced to compete in the market, is in a constant process of attracting new people, strive to occupy the top positions in the ratings. Higher education institutions are no exception. After the appearance of the concept «University 3.0.», one of the goals of which was to create integrated entrepreneurial ecosystems on the basis of educational organizations, where the university is assigned the role of a generator of innovations, and science and education also remain a priority, it became necessary to ensure maximum transparency of the processes that occur within each organization. Digitalization of the educational process has also played an important role, not only during the actual education, but also at the time of choosing a suitable university. The article examines the history of the development of the term «image of a higher educational institution» in Russia, its transformation, as well as its components, including the policy of open data. In addition, the paper describes the difference between the concepts of “open data” in the field of education: «open education» and «open data on education»; analyzes the problem of implementing open data policy by universities, and also examines the role of open data in working on the image of an educational institution.