PROBLEMS OF EMPIRICAL MEASUREMENT OF COMMUNICATIVE LEADERSHIP RESOURCES IN RESEARCH OF INTEGRATIVE DYNAMICS OF MOBILIZATION-TYPE INTERNET COMMUNITIES

Abstract

Online communities are still a relatively new social phenomenon - their novelty does not allow researchers to come to a consensus in their interpretations of what the Internet world is and what its connection with the life of real society is. One of the central issues in the study of online social networks is the question of how to exercise power and manage the mobilization potential of online communities. The article examines the specific features of Internet sociality and dominance practices implemented on the Internet, reveals the content of the metaphor «lightened Sociality» as a conceptual tool for analyzing the behavior of Internet communities. The definition of the concept of index power and communicative capital as a source of social inequality in cyberspace is given; the possibilities of applying existing methodological approaches to the empirical analysis of online leadership are evaluated. Brief conclusions of the study of communicative leadership in the system of factors of integrative dynamics of mobilization-type Internet communities are proposed. The article describes a methodology for assessing the types and resources of intra-group leadership based on empirical indicators developed in the complex of indicators of integration processes in online communities.