Communication Strategies and Functions in Russian Politicians’ Use of Social Media

Abstract

A study of the accounts of social networks of heads of regions of the Russian Federation, for the period January-May 2021 (n = 85, the empirical base was more than 150 thousand posts in social networks), shows the specifics of Russian e-government communication in social networks. In contrast to global practice, Twitter and Facebook are little used in the Russian Federation, where VKontakte and Instagram are more popular. These technical agents offer diverse “affordance”, and have different requirements, which directed communication. The types, strategies and functions of Instagram communication of all heads of the regions of the Russian Federation are discussed and reasons are given for the various prevailing strategies and gaps that require attention.