The Imaginaries of Russian Internet

What is it about?

By exploring the changes among online elites who have constructed the Internet, this article traces the unique history of the Russian Internet (RuNet). Illustrating how changes in online elites can be associated with changes in the socio-political role of the online space in general, it concludes that, although the Internet is of global nature, its space is constructed on the level of nation, culture and language. To show this, the article presents five stages in the development of RuNet, suggesting that the change in the stages is associated with the relationship of power between, first, actors (users, developers, the government, etc.) that construct Internet space and, second, alternative elites that emerge online and the traditional elites that seek to take the online space under their control by making their imaginary dominate.

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Why is it important?

The paper examines a principal question if the Internet able to provide an environment for development of alternative socio-political and cultural spaces, specifically in a national context that can be considered as authoritarian. It examines the process of transformation of the national segment of the Internet from being a potential socio-political alternative to convergence of offline and online space due to pressure of traditional political elites.