Dugin as digital influencer: symbolic authority and media ecosystems

Abstract

This article analyzes Alexander Dugin not as a philosopher but as a digital influencer operating within a transnational and ideologically cohesive media ecosystem. Using a mixed-methods design—social network analysis of Telegram forwarding, topic modeling of multilingual webpages, multiplatform posting metrics, and qualitative content analysis—we trace how Dugin curates and recirculates symbolic content across platforms. The findings indicate a tightly structured, largely semi-autonomous influence infrastructure that at times overlaps with but is not reducible to Kremlin propaganda, as Dugin targets niche, foreign-language audiences with themes of civilizational struggle, anti-liberalism, and traditionalism. Rather than creating new doctrines, his primary achievement lies in his ability to adaptively package his worldview to various political and historical contexts, while also excelling as an influencer running a vast, multipurpose media network across platforms. Studying Dugin through the lens of influence rather than ideology offers new insights into how similar actors construct networked counter-publics in fragmented digital spaces.