Media consumption among young people: political context, trends and influencing factors
Despite the sustained interest of Russian scholars in various aspects of youth media consumption, there are still issues in this that have not been properly researched. One of these is peculiarities of the development of youth media consumption. In this regard, the aim of the study, the results of which are presented in this article, was to analyze features and dynamics of the development of youth practices of interaction with the media environment, as well as to identify political factors influencing this. The empirical basis of the analysis is the results of four stages of online surveys of young people aged 14-35 (the sample included 4,327 people in total) and twelve focus group interviews (144 respondents) conducted from 2021 to 2024. Features of young people’s media consumption, degree of their interest in politics and specifics of self-assessment of their own level of media literacy are revealed. A trend has been recorded towards increasing trust among representatives of the younger generation in media sources of information about what is happening in the country and abroad that are loyal to the current Russian government. Factors affecting youth media practices are identified. Prospects for further research into this issue are outlined.
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The article was prepared within the framework of state assignment No. 124011800068-5 “The influence of media practices on the political consciousness of Russian youth: features, trends, possibilities for correction”.