Representation of political actors in the public online space (case study of the LDPR political party)

The article examines the process of representation of political actors within the LDPR party in the public online space. The author's model of representation includes four sequential stages through which political actors can accumulate mobilization potential. The process of representation takes place in the online space, which becomes a platform for the functioning of political actors and includes the following stages: positioning, perception, feedback from users and taking into account changes in the position of political actors. A feature of this process is its universality and applicability to all political actors actively functioning in the online space, as well as the fundamental validity of G. Almond and W. Schramm's rationale for communicative political processes. Critically rethinking and supplementing G. Almond's structural-functional model and W. Schramm's circular model of communication process, we have developed a model for the representation of political actors in Russia's online public space. In this article, the processes of representation of the LDPR party were analyzed. Digital user data in the online space covering the time interval from September 2021 to March 2022 was selected as the subject of the study. The empirical database was made up of network data consisting of data-sets uploaded by continuous sampling of messages published by political actors and users on the social platform VKontakte, Telegram messenger, and YouTube video hosting. The main stages of the representation process were studied using the method of network visualization of data sets, which compiled comments in response to the publications of political actors belonging to the LDPR political party. As a result, conclusions were drawn that political actors mobilize user potential for the implementation of socio-political action. In this case, the mobilization potential of users was converted into the electoral activity of citizens.