Need of new reading of sociological concepts of society of risk, network society, complex society and different scientific views on modern society in relation to process of an institutionalization of digital sociology as special sociological theory, subject matter and special methodology of knowledge of digital reality has been substantiated. Methodological approaches to use of the principles, the ideas and categories of various schools of sciences, groups of erudite and certain representatives of sociological science to development of the conceptual and categorial device, methodical potential and tools of digital sociology have been adduced. Special attention has been paid to the consideration of the concept of social network of the American sociologist Richard Mark Emerson in the context of digitalization. From positions of the concept of Richard Mark Emerson emergence of new dependences of users of Internet network on special category of subjects socially of interaction – moderators, administrators, owners of resources, the controlling public authorities and also manipulators of people’s attention has been explained; the specific motivation, which reveals itself in such phenomena as hypertrophied aspiration to the self-presentation (“selfie”, etc.); representation of the distorted virtual image for communications, hyperactivity in the appeal to various resources (“Internet surfing”) and also prevalence of motivators and estimated means – anonymous comments, “likes”, posts, reposts, symbolical encouragement and awards. Besides that, the behavior of Internet users has been considered in the context of the theory of the rational choice of the American sociologist James S. Coleman: at all risks of virtual interaction, the choice for integration of social communications into digital space, use of Internet resources for satisfaction of  personal and group needs brings more vital benefits for people, than folding of social activity in the Internet network.

The genesis of socio-humanitarian and sociological knowledge, namely: understanding and studying the phenomenon of human life, its biological, vital, informational and social aspects has been revealed. The regularity of the transformation of anthropocentrism under the influence of the development of science and technology, the emergence of the concept of post-humanism has been substantiated. The examples of man-made disasters, the use of weapons of mass destruction, as social facts, that had a significant impact on the development of mankind, have been adduced. The conditions for the emergence of object-oriented sociology and the sociology of things have been shown, some scientific approaches have been disclosed within the framework of this concept of Graham Harman, Brun Latour and his followers. Separately, the methodological approaches of the actor-network theory have been disclosed, the main one has been highlighted. Separately, the methodological foundations of cognition of the world of things have been described within the framework of object-oriented sociology, related to the rejection of opposing pairs of the concepts “society and nature”, “truth is non-truth”, “structure and process” and others. The connection of this theory with the sociology of translation has been shown. The characteristic of the problems of development of the scientific and methodological base of digital sociology in the context of changing the content of social relations “man – machine” on the example of the information and communication network Internet has been given. Among them, have been allocated the problems of delegation to digital technologies, more and more powers in solving complex socio-technical problems, the global centralization of digital resources management, the emergence of virtual actors of social interaction. The author reduces specific examples of the use of actor-network theory to interpret the processes and phenomena of interaction between users of Internet resources with individual components of the Internet. Separately, promising areas of research in this area, related to the phenomena of the Internet of things and neuronet, have been highlighted.

Classical sociological theories have enormous potential for explaining social objects, phenomena, and processes, including those taking place in a modern informational society. Among these classics is owned Umberto Eco - an Italian scholar, literary critic, publicist and writer, is among those classics. Some aspects of the scientific heritage of Umberto Eco about semiotic analysis, signs and interpretation of their meanings, mass communication in relation to the tasks of studying virtual communications, the Internet, network society and the digital economy have been revealed. The phenomenon of “visual communication” has been considered in detail: in natural language, the value is predetermined, in the visual it is generated as the message is received. It is assumed that not all communicative phenomena can be explained using linguistic categories. Separately, a description of the methodological components of the concept of mass communication of the scientist has been made: it is argued that by means of mass culture a certain cultural code opposite to the transmitter code can be formed at the receiving instance. The results of the interpretation of the primary data of the sociological research project of the State University of Management have been presented, on the basis of which it can be concluded, that young people go beyond the important sociocultural norms of communication, which can cause distortion of signs and image codes of the virtual interlocutor and lead to a dangerous situation. The conclusion about the possibilities of using the scientific method of Umberto Eco in digital sociology for social diagnostics of the content and specificity of communications on the Internet, which allows to represent different aspects of your real or desired “I”, to create identities through many virtual characters, has been substantiated.

A digital era with inevitability raises for us a question of need of definition of determination of the changes, resulting from informatization: processes of transformation of contents, organizational and technological bases and also valuable sense of social communications in virtual space within concepts of “open society”, “network society”, “digital society”. In article views of the reflexive activity and structural theory of communicative action of Jurgen Habermas have been revealed: “the vital world” to which “the system world” resists has been considered. An approach to knowledge of process of evolution through attraction of the typology of communicative actions, developed by Jurgen Habermas, according to which the first type of actions focused on success, and the second type – on understanding, has been described. A modern communicative discourse of users of Internet network has been analyzed, in particular, fragmentation of ordinary consciousness and colonization has been noted by its systems, which is connected with disintegration of a common understanding of the vital worlds. On the basis of the analysis of results of a research of interaction of subjects of the digital communications, carried out by the State university of management, possibilities of interpretation of primary data on the basis of scientific approach of Jurgen Habermas have been introduced. So, for example, it has been shown, that young people actively make habitable “the system world” of virtual space, replacing with it real communications and transforming real forms of behavior of “the vital world”, a certain rationality of young people at assessment of objectivity of information Internet resources is noted, their ability to define “a discourse, that is the argument” in favor of these or those forms of use of opportunities of Internet network. Ways of fuller inclusion in the modern scientific device of digital sociology of approaches of Jurgen Habermas have been offered.

An overview of modern scientific concepts and accumulated scientific data for the development of digital sociology in terms of clarifying ideas about the features of the collection of primary sociological data has been presented. An importance of scientific understanding of the transformation of the content and specifics of the methodological tools of sociological research in the information and communication network Internet has been substantiated. The characteristic of the primary sociological information, contained in the Internet space and which is essential for the analysis of phenomena and processes in the course of conducting online research has been made. The classification has been substantiated, primary data groups have been distinguished according to the degree of openness, which include open, partially open and closed data. Separately, the characteristic of the obtained primary sociological data has been given by the method of technological access – analysis of blogs, the use of search engines for keywords, the inclusion of intelligent monitoring systems and analysis of social media, which are implemented either on stationary or mobile computer devices. The types of primary data on the format of communications have been adduced: advertising, network, vertically structured, horizontal, as well as the degree of reliability: “a sufficient level of reliability”, “doubtful information”, “unreliable information”. On the basis of the sociological research data, the features of collecting primary sociological information in the Internet space in the financial and economic sphere and identifying risks of the financial behavior of the population in the digital sphere have been shown. The qualitative and quantitative indicators of the use of Internet resources by young people for information, interaction, communication, training, business communication, entertainment and recreation, payment for goods and services have been presented. Conclusions about the need to take into account the specifics of the content and features of the study of primary sociological information in the digital space have been made.

An attempt has been made to apply the scientific approaches of Jean Baudrillard’s anti-social theory, as well as the concepts of hyperreality, simulacra and simulation, used by him for the understanding of social phenomena, occurences and processes in the modern virtual space. The following interpretation of the characteristics of the Internet space has been proposed: a) the Internet can be considered within the framework of Jean Baudrillard’s concept as an example of antireality, since it is possible to preserve anonymity, invent a new life, use other people’s photos, etc.; b) communication in the virtual Internet is, in its essence, a simulation of communication, that is, its surrogate (simulacrum); in this case, the former contact form of communication is replaced by indirect – communication is carried out through social networks and messengers; c) there is a depletion of content and primitivization of expression of emotions, as in virtual communication uses a set of standard phrases, standard themes, emoticons, pictures, exchange of memes and other simulacra that are included in everyday social practices. On the example of the analysis of the results of the sociological research project, implemented at the State University of Management, the practical procedures of their interpretation within the framework of the scientific concept of Jean Baudrillard have been carried out. For example, it has been revealed, that despite the life experience of respondents in the majority of fake Internet content, they all also largely feel comfortable in  a virtual, potentially dangerous environment. Moreover, this environment becomes vital for them: young people spread their lives, their thoughts, desires, value systems, hidden hopes and dreams on public display. This image of social activity becomes for the majority so necessary element of self-realization, that ceases to be a part of this process, and becomes independent, integral, lying outside the person phenomenon.

The main segmental areas of activity of a consultant, invited by the head of the company for a fundamental correction of the organization of management in the context of the transition to digital format have been analyzed. The previous experience in management consulting has been rethought for application in modern, digital conditions for improving organizational management. This issue is extremely relevant for the entire consulting community, which is currently experiencing a serious crisis. The article has been addressed, first of all, to colleagues from the National Guild of professional consultants, who are looking for new methodological approaches, developing packages of new consult-competencies and new options for establishing contacts with potential customers. The previous developments have been adapted, namely: visual digital models for clearer visual support of the negotiation processes in business communication with the Customer. In the first digital model a general consulting approach to understanding management in a crisis and post-crisis period of organizing management in the process of mastering digital features of management relations has been introduced. In the second digital model, the positions of transition from a non-digital to digital format have been specified. In the third digital model the meaningful positions of the digital format in management consulting have been demonstrated. In the fourth digital model, the main contradiction in the organization of management has been identified, which must be submitted to the Customer for a final understanding of the situations, that arise. All four digital models are interrelated and help deeply understand the problems of the transition of the company from one state to another. These models “visualize” the negotiation process with the Customer, helping to quickly establish business contacts, as well as significantly reducing the time of the negotiation process.