SOCIAL NETWORKS PHENOMENON AND ITS IMPACT ON SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PROCESSES IN GLOBALIZED WORLD

Abstract

Introduction. The globalization and computerization processes, intensified in the second half of the 20th century, provoked the radical changes in the society. Nowadays, since the moment of his birth a man finds himself in a variety of networks: school, production, bureaucracy, etc. Humans are being grown up under the social networks and Internet influence, rather than the family values and traditions one. All these changes have a tremendous impact on man as well as on society. The aim of the article is to analyze the information stage of the post-industrial society, in particular its transition to the networking level, and to reveal the essence of the concept "network society", characterizing the current network realities and determining the main factors of their formation. The tasks of the article are to systematize Ukrainian and foreign research experience in the sphere of determining of society’s components that influence the formation of the phenomenon of social networks in order to reveal their peculiarities in social and political processes; to analyze the essence and content of the "network" and "Network Society" concepts in order to study the distinct characteristics of a network society from the standpoint of the concept of a society of networks. Research results. The development of information technologies has led to a change in the structure of society, giving it the features of a network society. Both the speed of communication and the pace of life have accelerated. A new society provides opportunities for the further development of science and the improvement of technology, as the spatial and temporal barriers are eliminated. Under these conditions, the exchange of ideas, knowledge, experience, and etc. is significantly intensifying. Social and philosophical analysis allows to create theoretical generalizations and proceeds to the level of forecasting of the further expansion of social networks. Conclusion. The development of the network society influence on the changes of roles of social institutions on the basis of deliberative principles of their functioning, which entail a change in the social structure of society.