SOURCE AND INFORMATION POTENTIAL OF SOCIAL NETWORKS ABOUT THE RUSSIAN WAR AGAINST UKRAINE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND CLASSIFICATION OF SOURCES

Yaroslav  KALAKURA; Tetiana  BILUSHCHAK

doi:10.24919/2519-058X.37.346051

Authors

Yaroslav KALAKURA PhD hab. (History), Professor, Professor of Department of Archival Science and Special Branches of Historical Science, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9007-4991
Tetiana BILUSHCHAK PhD (History), Associate Professor of Department of Social Communications and Information Activity, Lviv Polytechnic National University, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5308-1674

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24919/2519-058X.37.346051

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to determine the specifics of the information potential of social networks as a source complex in the history of the Russo-Ukrainian war and to outline the methodological principles of its analysis and classification. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, comprehensiveness, objectivity, and systemic and critical approaches. General scientific, historical, and source research methods have been used: analytical, synthetic, logical, typological, heuristic, historical and comparative. Content analysis, scientific sampling, retrospective and analytical monitoring of e-sources have been used to trace the content of various types of social networks about the Russian war against Ukraine. Scientific Novelty. The features and significance of the information potential of social networks as a system of specific digital sources for documenting and studying the history of the Russo-Ukrainian war have been clarified, and the methodology for their research and classification, source criticism, and determination of the information reliability have been substantiated. At the same time, the author points out the saturation of social networks with hostile and harmful disinformation, fakes, the Russian narratives, and Ukrainophobic posts. Conclusions. In the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine, along with the media, the role of social media in the media and information space has grown significantly, and their importance in documenting and interpreting events and facts has increased. They occupy a leading position in the electronic sector of the source base for both military and civilian history, which, in turn, presents new challenges for both traditional and digital source and archival studies. The analysis and ranking of social networks by their representativeness and place in the digital environment of Ukraine, the reliability of information, and their contribution to the formation of historical sources, as well as their classification, have shown the need for a critical attitude to the selection of information, examination of its authorship, motives for creation, completeness, reliability, objectivity, and scholarly value. Source studies of electronic evidence are intended to contribute to the understanding of the genocidal nature, cruelty, and destructive consequences of the Russian aggression and to expose and refute any attempts to justify it.

Key words: electronic source, social networks, Russo-Ukrainian war, information, research methodology, classification of e-sources.

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