The socio-economic and demographic factors of online activity among right-wing radicals

This paper presents the results of a study on socio-economic and demographic factors thataffect the intensity of right-wing radicals’ activity in the framework of the Russian-basedsocial network VKontakte. Right-wing radical ideas expressed within the VKontakte network are most actively supported by the population of the regional centres (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar Krai) and areas around these centres, which are defined as the semi-periphery in the core-periphery model. The intensity of the online activity of right-wing radicals is mostly influenced by demographic factors, including the average age of the population, the net migration rate coefficient; however, it is not affected by the indicators of economic wellbeing. The authors hypothesise that support for right-wing radical ideology on social media is determined not by the objective characteristics of the social and economic well-being of the population, but by subjective emotional factors (irritation, feelings of social injustice)

A comparative analysis of right-wing radical and Islamist communities’ strategies for survival in social networks (evidence from the Russian social network VKontakte)

This article presents a comparative analysis of online communities of right-wing radicals and Islamists, who are considered to be numerous and dangerous extremist groups in Russian society. The online communities were selected based on the content posted on the largest Russian social networking site VKontakte. The goal of this article is to determine the strategy and tactics employed by extremist online communities for survival on social networking sites. The authors discovered that both right-wing radical and Islamist groups employ similar behavioural techniques, with the mimicry of ideologically neutral content as the most common. In addition, every extremist community also applies some unique methods. For example, if there is a risk of being blocked, right-wing radicals tend to shift their activity and communication to the other internet-based platforms that are not under state control; however, Islamists prefer to suddenly change the content of their communities (i.e. by using secondary mimicry)

The socio-economic and demographic factors of online activity among right-wing radicals

This paper presents the results of a study on socio-economic and demographic factors thataffect the intensity of right-wing radicals’ activity in the framework of the Russian-basedsocial network VKontakte. Right-wing radical ideas expressed within the VKontakte network are most actively supported by the population of the regional centres (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar Krai) and areas around these centres, which are defined as the semi-periphery in the core-periphery model. The intensity of the online activity of right-wing radicals is mostly influenced by demographic factors, including the average age of the population, the net migration rate coefficient; however, it is not affected by the indicators of economic wellbeing. The authors hypothesise that support for right-wing radical ideology on social media is determined not by the objective characteristics of the social and economic well-being of the population, but by subjective emotional factors (irritation, feelings of social injustice)