Internet technologies for ethnocultural branding (the case of the Murmansk region)

The paper reviews the role and specifics of certain Internet technologies in the context of the ethnocultural branding of the northern territories of the Russian Federation. The study uses the methods of visual anthropology, phenomenology, and visual and textual source analysis, taking into account the results of theoretical and practical research on the issue of territorial branding. The article explores certain Internet technologies used for the establishment and functioning of ethnic brands of Russia’s northern territories in comparison with the literary and visual methods of creating ethnic images in the “pre-Internet era”. It is revealed that the previous ways of constructing ethnic images of northern peoples for ethnocultural branding are reinforced by the intertextuality and discreteness of modern web information. The study concludes that Internet technologies play a leading role in the territorial and ethnocultural branding of the Murmansk region, but the low level of their development has negative impact on the ethnographic tourism in the region.