Changing Internet Practices of Urban Youth during the Pandemic (On Example of Novosibirsk)

Abstract

The article analyzes a topical topic dedicated to changing the Internet practices of urban youth in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. The purpose of the study is to identify changes in Internet practices and their components among young people living in the city of Novosibirsk in a pandemic. The relevance, as well as scientific novelty, of research is caused by such a phenomenon as a pandemic, as a result of which there has been a change in the preferences of using the Internet among young people. Talking about the relevance, it should be mentioned that in a pandemic, the Internet provides the basis for the emergence of new and transformation of old Internet practices. In addition, the number of sociological studies studying the life of people before and after the pandemic and the role of the Internet in the changed living conditions under the influence of the pandemic has increased recently, since this is one of the relevant and important topics for discussion in the scientific community. Based on the data from the RCSPO polls for 2018 and 2020, the context of the situation under study was described. Through a series of face-to-face and online interviews (conducted in 2021) with young people aged 18– 24 living in Novosibirsk, the most subject to change were identified aspects of the implementation of Internet practices in the context of the pandemic. The study revealed a change in the structural elements of Internet practices after the pandemic and the emergence of new goals for using the Internet. The results of the study confirm the thesis about the emergence of a “new reality” and show how young people adapt to it.