The blogosphere and the social networks as elements of the modern political process

The article discusses the features of the blogosphere and the social networks: the phenomenon of familiar strangers, the complex structure of hyperlinks, the network connections, and so on. The author notes that among a large number of bloggers there is a relatively limited circle of persons having a significant "social power" in the blogosphere. It is concluded that the blogosphere and social networks should be studied thoroughly since they are able to have a positive impact on the development of the modern political process and democratization of the society.