Mikhaylenok O.M., Voronkova O.A. Network society: power, cyber elites, mass conciousness. Vlast. 2025. Vol. 33. No. 4. Pp. 148-154.

Abstract

The article deals with the issues of reformatting the institutional foundations of power, social elites and mass mentality in the context of networking. In the network paradigm of research, the new principle of organization of society is characterized by the processes of constant movement, discontinuity of connections and relations. Network elites - cyber elites and socio-cultural communities - are formed not on the principle of concentration around a single political decision-making center, but on the ability to control the flow of communication, which is the possession of valuable knowledge and a network of connections that spread this knowledge across the network, causing a wide public response. The power of the traditional type is becoming dependent on the new network elites. Mass consciousness is forced to catch up to new conditions, to increase the level of education and competence. The formation of the middle space of the netosphere on a global scale is becoming an important condition for the transition of local socio-political relations to a new stage.