UDC

130.2+17.021.3

Authors

Lyudmila V. Baeva
Astrakhan State University; ul. Tatishcheva 20 A, Astrakhan, 414056, Russian Federation;
e-mail: baevaludmila@mail.ru

Abstract

This article studies phenomena of social media from the standpoint of the philosophical-axiological and existential analysis. Social media is considered here as one of the characteristic phenomena of e-culture. The article systematizes the typical characteristics and development trends of social media. Much attention is given to the classification and analysis of the predominant types of communication and activity in the social media. These types are: aesthetic-hedonistic, ethical, gaming, narcissistic, business and professional, consumeristic, and provoking. Using the analytical data, the author revealed key antinomies of modern social media: self-organization and openness, on the one hand, and indirect governance, on the other; democratization, on the one hand, and destabilization of the social system due to the riskiness of content, on the other; intensified social communication against the background of weakening social cooperation and support, etc. Social media are presented here as a form of human transcendence in the modern socio-cultural and information environment. This transcendence facilitates interaction with the Others as well as acquiring meanings and values, while at the same time remains simulative in its nature. Due to their antinomies, social media today are a form of a person’s objectification and loss of individuality in the ephemeral anonymous communication, as well as subjection of a person’s thinking to stereotyped patterns of social networks. Distance communication creates global connectivity and mutual influence, but it is unable to become a supporting environment for a person in the face of existential challenges. In the modern media, a dominant role is played less by cooperation and exchange of knowledge than by the functions of recreation, consumption and communication as a terminal value of the information society.

Keywords

network communication, social media, social networks, e-culture, antinomies, transcendence

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