Social engineering: challenges and opportunities

Social engineering as a field of science has undergone a stationary period, after which it has spread with new power in educational activities. The article analyzes the status of social engineer, combining its positions of an engineer and a sociologist. Within the framework of socio-engineering activity it is necessary to mention several directions, such as, management consulting, social construction (design, programming and planning), social engineering studies (analysis, diagnosis and examination), organizational and technological activity. They present the main ground in the field of management of social processes for the qualification of future employees. The authors suppose that socio-engineering activity in enterprises should be an integral part of functional management system, along with economic and technological control of production activity

From the sense of affinity to liking: transformation of forms of interpersonal communication on the basis of social networks

The article touches upon the issue related to the role of social networks and media in the context of interpersonal communication. The relevance of the work is reasoned by the growing interest towards the transformations which take place in modern interpersonal communication. With the appearance of informational and communicative technologies as well as with the globalization of all the informational processes the major part of communications, both of business and personal nature, is carried out in a virtual environment, in particular on social platforms as Vkontakte, Instagram, Facebook, etc. In this article the author focuses on such a social platform as Instagram due to the fact that nowadays the audience of Instagram is rapidly growing and this platform is carrying a significant impact on it. The author reveals the nature of the phenomenon of “like” and its role in the interpersonal communication based on Instagram social platform

Commodification of knowledge in system of higher education

This article touches upon the issue of the process of commodification of knowledge in the context of higher education system in Russia. The relevance of the research is first determined by the processes of Russian universities transformation into world-class universities in order to improve their positions in global university rankings, and, secondly, by the need for modification of the translation of scientific paradigm foundations and new knowledge acquisition through the means of commodification. Among various educational practices in the era of globalization, developing countries including Russia are implementing diverse representations of transnational collaboration in the field of education. For this reason, the process of commodification of knowledge may be also considered as one of the direction of the Russian educational system towards integration into global educational environment. The purpose of this research is to define the peculiarities of the concept of commodification of knowledge in the system of higher education and to analyze the main strategies of Russian universities reformation

"The Third Age": Aspects Of Understanding

Nowadays social problems of elderly people or so-called people of "the third age", their social status and their place in modern society, issues of well-being and satisfaction with life are particularly relevant in Russia. In this article the authors propose the approach to the study of elderly people wellbeing issues and to the determination of social status of elderly people in various societies from the perspective of social gerontology. In this article the authors present the study of intangible factors, accompanying an elderly person during this period of life. The authors propose the insight into the ways of overcoming the negative characteristics of ageing period, through the creation of conditions for new social relations formation. In modern world, old age is being understood by humanity as the age, which hides large reserves and great potential. The authors highlight the need to learn how to recognize new value orientations in surrounding society as well as in one's personality. In this regard the support rendered by family and the people of the same age group, surrounding an elderly person, is the most significant aspect in making this period of life happier and more meaningful. Thus, old age is the phenomenon of more social than physical nature as the psychological development continues up to old age