In the article, the authors identified a set of conditions and factors that both hinder and facilitate the transformation of public administration as a public-state system for coordinating and realizing the interests of representatives of stakeholders through the use of the potential of digital and information and telecommunication technologies. In the course of the study, the following tasks were solved: the role of digitalization for the public administration system was assessed, the problems of this process were identified, the possibilities of electronic online platforms in the organization of social networking in the “governance – society” dyad were evaluated. The article presents the results of a focused group semi-formalized online interview in the format of video conferencing on the Zoom platform, conducted in December 2021 among 20 experts. The experts were representatives of public authorities at the federal, regional and local levels, state corporations, civil society structures, business structures, the scientific community, as well as the Russian Regional Management Center. Based on the analysis of the results of the expert survey, the authors conclude that the digitalization of the activities of the authorities gives a good increase not only in improving the quality of service provision to the country’s population, but also in improving the feedback mechanism, increasing the involvement of the population in the process of solving socially significant issues. This gives hope that the resolution of problems associated with the introduction of digital technologies into the work of government bodies with the population will contribute to the transition from informing and servicing citizens to interactive communication with them.

The article presents the results of a study to identify trends in the coverage of digital technology and artificial intelligence in scientific papers. Semantic units reflecting aspects of digitalization, artificial intelligence, augmented reality are revealed. The main semantic units, reflecting different aspects of the research field are digitalization; artificial intelligence (additional semantic units: knowledge representation, theorem proving, computer vision, robotics, machine learning, multi-agent systems, artificial intelligence tools); neural networks (additional semantic units: learning with a teacher, learning without a teacher, input data); strong or general artificial intelligence, weak or applied artificial intelligence; Marusya voice assistant, Alisa voice assistant, Siri voice assistant, Bixby voice assistant, Google Assistant; speech recognition, fingerprint recognition, human face identification. Quantitative changes in the coverage of digital technologies, artificial intelligence, augmented reality elements in scientific papers of scientists for the period from 2016 to 2021 are presented and graphically visualized. The analysis of quantitative characteristics of materials and content component of semantic units on the indicated theme is given. The subject of the study is the publications of Russian and foreign authors, dealing with the issues of digitalization and artificial intelligence, included in the database of the Russian Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of the Russian Academy of Sciences (VINITI RAS) for the period from 2016 to 2021.

Against the background of many complex problems threatening the sustainable development of world civilization, the dialectic of tradition and innovation is considered as a pattern of social evolution. The specifics of its implementation are determined by specific historical conditions that allow us to distinguish three stages of development – with the dominance of tradition, the predominance of innovation, the unity of tradition and innovation. The need for such unity in a digital society is due to its characteristics of a “complex society”, a risk society, an increase in the number of social ontologies, and changes in indicators of human subjectivity. The disappearing unambiguity of cause-and-effect relationships, growing social uncertainty create the danger of going off the trajectory of sustainable and effective development, generating the need for a guideline that protects from mistakes. Centuries-old cultural experience, which appears in the modern world as a tradition, can become such a reference point. The mechanism of unity of tradition and innovation is revealed by relying on the structure of spiritual culture, which has a level character and has behavioral, ideological and genetic formations. The realization of their potential is presented as considering the requirements that have developed over thousands of years, and in the form of meanings and archetypes, often inexplicable, but encouraging certain choices and actions. In general, we are talking about the transition from one social type of thinking and activity to another, corresponding to the digital civilization and capable of ensuring the sustainable development of society and the individual.

The authors of the article explore how the cartoon characters are perceived in advertising products of famous brands among young people. To study this issue, focus groups were held, in which representatives of the youth audience took part. To demonstrate the stimulus material, 22 characters from animated films were selected (cartoons of the Soviet period, Disney studios cartoons and other foreign cartoons). For a large number of products, especially for children, the use of cartoon characters is logical and relevant in most cases. The level of popularity of Soviet cartoons is quite high, which gives brands the opportunity to use their characters in advertising communications. The most popular are the heroes of foreign cartoons (Disney studios and others). According to the results of the study, it was concluded that the use of cartoon characters in advertising communications of the brand contributes to its successful promotion, makes advertising bright and memorable, such advertising attracts the attention of the target audience and arouses its interest. At the same time, the authors point out that it is impossible to take the character out of the context of the cartoon, his image should be exactly the way people used to see him. In this case, advertising communication will be really successful. The results of the study can be used by brands when promoting goods and services using cartoon characters.

Neighborhood group chats have become an inseparable attribute of most urban localities. Despite their significant role in the processes of neighborhood communication and the construction of local communities, this phenomenon has been little comprehended by social science. The purpose of this article is to offer variants of adaptation of some sociological approaches to the analysis of the phenomenon of neighborhood chats. The nature of neighborhood chat as an institutional and communication-oriented tool for information exchange is described. The classification of neighborhood chats according to the level of their closeness is given. The forms of control in the selection of participants in closed versions of neighborhood chats are explained. The communicative side of neighborhood chat is proposed to be considered through the prism of E. Goffman’s “dramaturgy”. Conceptualizations of the basic concepts of “dramaturgy” in the context of digital neighborhood interaction are proposed. The complicated nature of neighborhood chat as a technological and social phenomenon is analyzed using the actor-network theory approach. The identification of neighborhood chat as an “actor-network” has been substantiated. The functional side of neighborhood chat as a mechanism of assemblage of neighborhood communities is considered in correlation with R. Oldenburg’s concept of the “third place”. It is shown that the neighborhood chat, being rather a digital simulation of the “third place”, can potentially compensate for the lack of real public spaces in the conditions of typical development, launching and supporting the processes of integration on the locality.

Modern research in the field of sociology of science is becoming more complicated due to the constantly growing publication activity of authors. To track trends in sectoral sociology, scientists turn to scientometric methods, but they are not enough. Trends in the development of the sociology of values as a branch of sociology are the subject of the study. The purpose of the work is an assessment of the possibilities of using natural language analysis methods (NLP/NLA) for thematic and theoretical clustering of research in the sociology of values. The design of the study was quantitative and qualitative, it was carried out in two stages. At the first stage, 121 abstracts of a scientific articles were analyzed using text mining, after which their total array was divided into clusters. At the second stage, the results of machine clustering were examined by the method of qualitative text analysis, on the basis of which the limitations and capabilities of the NLP/NLA method were identified for solving the problem of clustering scientific texts. It was found that articles with a more conservative core of theoretical categories (gender studies, migration studies, the theory of globalism) are more amenable to clustering, while theories with a loosely structured and fluid theoretical core (theories using environmental terminology, theories of inequality) are much less amenable to explicit clustering. The results obtained allow us to form a new direction of work with large arrays of scientific texts, associated with their clustering using NLP/NLA. Building clusters enables researchers to work with all texts in a given subject area, and not just with the most cited ones. This, in turn, provides the visibility of all scientific ideas, including those that have not gained popularity/notability.

The article analyzes the problems of fraud in the modern digital society in the context of social changes caused by both the COVID-19 pandemic and the current geopolitical situation. The authors study in detail the types of financial fraud in this area. They pay special attention to the types of digital fraud: telephone fraud and IP-telephony, SMS fraud, phishing, sniffering (message interception), skimming (theft of card data), which are associated with the emergence of cryptocurrencies. The article presents the data of the authors’ sociological research conducted by the method of an online questionnaire survey (n = 765). The study showed that only 44 % of respondents are sufficiently informed about the types of fraud to protect themselves from modern internet scammers. An analysis of data on certain types of digital fraud showed that 20 % of respondents lost money due to telephone or Internet fraud, 16 % of respondents personally encountered IP telephony, and 40 % have no idea about such a type of fraud as sniffering and existing anti-virus protection against it. The research also showed the vulnerability, first of all, of the male half of the population over 40 years of age in the field of internet fraud. Therefore, public authorities, together with the media, business and other actors of Russian society, need to strengthen the policy in the field of improving the level of financial and digital literacy of the population.

The relevance of protecting minors from destructive information is quite high, since in the modern world technology has taken a leading position in human life, including children’s, replacing not only live communication, but also transferring a person’s entire life to the Internet space. The information environment affects the upbringing of children, as they spend a lot of time in global networks. Based on the meaning of international norms and national legislation, the protection of children from destructive information should be organized, including at the regional level. Features of Russian cities of federal significance can serve as a basis for a separate study of their experience in organizing the protection of minors from a destructive information environment. This study analyzes such work in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Sevastopol. The article uses the comparative legal method, the method of analysis, the formal legal method, the sociological method, the method of generalization. Cities of federal significance have been studied from the standpoint of the criminalization of minors. The regional legislation governing the protection of minors from the destructive information environment has been studied. The law enforcement practice on improving the media literacy of minors, educational work, extracurricular work with children and adolescents is analyzed. In conclusion, findings about the features of ensuring the protection of minors from destructive information in Russian cities of federal significance are drawn.

Based on data from a sample of 377 females in the 2018 Chinese General Social Survey, this study constructs a logit model considering moderating effect to estimate the effect of receiving higher education on the patriarchal perspective held by Chinese females, and examines the moderating effect of internet usage on the relationship between receiving higher education and the patriarchal perspective. As a result of the study, the authors came to the following conclusions. Firstly, receiving higher education will have a direct and significant improvement effect on the patriarchal perspective held by Chinese females, reducing their identification with the patriarchal perspective, especially for Chinese rural females. Secondly, internet usage will not directly have a significant effect on the patriarchal perspective held by Chinese females, but it will indirectly have a significant moderating effect on the patriarchal perspective held by Chinese rural females by receiving higher education. The more frequently Chinese rural females use the Internet, the weaker the effect of receiving higher education on their patriarchal perspective. Ultimately, when Chinese rural females use the Internet very frequently, receiving higher education will make them identify with the patriarchal perspective. Thirdly, the act of marriage will significantly strengthen the identification with the patriarchal perspective for both Chinese urban and rural females. However, engaging in household investment activities will significantly reduce the patriarchal perspective of Chinese urban females, while Chinese rural females will only gradually identify more with the patriarchal perspective as they grow older.