Regional socio-political interaction online and offline: Possibilities for comparison and measurement using the example of the environmental agenda
Authors:   Kemerovo State University, Kranzeeva Elena A. , Golovatsky Evgeniy V. ,   Kemerovo State University, Burmakina Anna L. ,   Kemerovo State University, Donova Inna V. ,   Kemerovo State University
Published: October 2024

Regional socio-political interaction is characterized by a combination of the development agenda and local projects implemented in the “home” space. Currently, formats of socio-political interaction intersect everywhere in real and virtual, online and offline interactions. A methodological turn to the study of simultaneous formats of online and offline interactions, in our opinion, allows us to consider the combination of social and political interaction of regional communities in the totality of network techniques of virtual communications. The aim of the study is to consider online and offline formats of socio-political interaction by collecting current issues on the platform of the regional environmental agenda. There is a synchronization of information layers and communication perspectives of the experience of life “here and now”, network and cloud communication. The environmental agenda is highly attractive in discussing and highlighting the socio-political problems of the region. The article uses data obtained by the authors during the Kuzbass-Politics monitoring study aimed at studying the opinions of residents of the cities of Kemerovo Oblast. The results of the surveys of 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2023 were analyzed. Big data collected using data-mining tools was also used. For digital analysis, we used a collected dataset of current data from regional network communities of Kuzbass on VKontakte. The sources of the data were messages (posts) in selected 56 unique communities of Kuzbass; comments to posts with the indication of community id, community name, post id, community territory label (period 01 January 2022 – 18 November 2022). The data obtained show the relevance of environmental issues in offline sociopolitical interaction, and a tendency towards an increase in positive assessments of the environmental situation by citizens over the past four years. Based on the results of the analysis of network data, we can observe the absence of the direct mention of ecology and related issues on the agenda of regional network communities and top socio-political issues. Internet technologies in the context of the study of regional socio-political interaction are understood in three ways: a source of information, a communication medium, and a conductor into virtual public arenas. The results of the study showed the intersection of environmental topics in regional field studies and descriptions of network agendas analyzed using data-mining tools. Consequently, the environmental agenda can serve as a point of assembly of latent regional issues with the subsequent transfer of relevance and mobilization activities to related and sometimes unobvious topics. The regional agenda indicates the main directions for the development of further research: the ability to focus on the use of digital technologies and networking tools and an emphasis on the content of communication and the activities of actors.