The article describes the methodological, methodic and socio-project aspects of the views of the modern sociologist and political scientist M. Castells in the framework of a discursive analysis of the possibilities of their use in the further institutionalization of digital sociology, as a relatively autonomous set of scientific data of sociology. The author considers literary sources related to the scientific work of M. Castells, methodological tools of discursive analysis and databases. The paper describes theoretical approaches to the study of the concept of the power of communication in ontological and socio-cultural contexts, as well as the characteristics of the author’s empirical sociological research in the framework of disclosing the logical and semantic components of the concept under consideration. Based on the discursive analysis, the author reveals structural, functional, procedural, organizational and managerial components of the theoretical views of the scientist, which help to clarify the object-subject sphere and the methodological arsenal of sociological research in the field of information and communication network “Internet”. The article considers the scientific approaches of the scientist to clarify the concept of “power” by explaining the role and place of actors in it, as well as use by them of social networks for their influence. The author highlights separately the scientist`s disclosure of the “network society” concept, which determines the network structure of connections based on the activation of information. The paper describes the features of the scientific method of M. Castells, associated with the postulation of the thesis of the regularity of the continuous replacement of scientific concepts in the knowledge of power relations and communications, the importance of flexibility and changing the angle of view of the scientist to solve specific research problems. The author emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of the scientific methodology, method and socio-project approaches of the scientist. The study gives the directions of implementation of scientific developments of M. Castells in digital sociology, substantiates socio-project ways of increasing the positive potential of Internet communications in the context of digital society development.

The methodological, methodological and practical aspects of determining the socio-political activity of student youth by factors of young people involvement in Internet communications, trust in Internet resources, and the use of digital services for satisfying information needs have been revealed. Based on the analysis of the results of sociological research, the role of the information and communication network “Internet” in the formation of young people’s attitudes to various forms of participation in socio-political practices has been highlighted. A number of information sources in the virtual space with political information has been analysed. The article includes information about the conditions and factors that affect the features of virtual communications of young people on political issues. Сonsiderable attention has been paid to the peculiarities of determining the attitudes of young people to participate in elections, as the most obvious form of their political activity. Using the methods of mathematical statistical analysis, the forms of Internet activity of young people have been studied and considered as factors of integration values political activities in dispositional personality structure, political orientation and willingness to co-operate with various actors power relations (political institutions, social movements, parties, groups of political activists), as well as acceptable forms of political behavior. Using the calculation of indices, determining measures of Central trend and variation, as well as other quantitative and qualitative diagnostic tools, a comparative analysis of the results of various sociological studies on the relationship between the level of youth involvement in the Internet space and the degree of political activity has been carried out. The features of student youth perception of political reality depending on the image of political practices in the virtual space have been characterized. Measures to create conditions for the formation of positive attitudes among young people to socially encouraged models of political activity (activity and behavior) have been justified.

A brief overview of the history of the Internet and social networks in the world and in Russia in particular has been provided. The concepts of social network, user profile and properties inherent in any social network – virtuality, interactivity and multimedia have been сharacterized and revealed. Dynamic data on the state of digital technologies for 2019 in the world and in Russia in particular have been analysed. The history and prospects for further development of social networks have been considered. Statistical data on the number of users of the 9 most popular social networks in Russia, namely: their activity, the amount of time spent on the Internet and in social networks, age and gender specifics and preferences of the technical devices used and types of Internet connection have been adduced. General recommendations to marketers on accurate targeting of ads placed in social networks have been given. To do this, companies should work with groups of users, that are united by a number of parameters, as well as create communities in social networks by companies that convey new information to users. Using data on the age, gender and other attributes of the target audience of social networks, marketers will be able to successfully solve the problems of increasing brand awareness and loyalty, attracting new customers, influencing the search promotion of external resources (sites and communities) containing information about the brand, products and services, and using them as effective tools for attracting potential customers.

The transformation of the structure of social ideas about marriage and family relations in general and the structure of the modern family has been considered through digital technologies. The problem of the growing number of single mothers has been raised. Statistics for 20 years have been provided. The influence of several factors on the growth dynamics has been analysed. The influence of women`s emancipation, availability of remote work and the image of successful bloggers on changing the fields of social representations of modern unmarried women about single motherhood has been examined. One of the main reasons for changing the attitude of women to the image of single mother, namely the appearance of a new image-”solo-mom”, which is actively used in the digital environment, has been considered. Communities and groups in the social networks Vkontakte, Facebook, Instagram and Odnoklassniki, dedicated to supporting single mothers, have been studied. Blogs of single mothers who position themselves as “solo-mothers”, have been reviewed. The results of an empirical study aimed at identifying a factor that affects the change in the system of views and attitudes of unmarried women in the transition zone and the periphery have been presented. The responses of respondents received in 2014 and 2019 by the free Association experiment have been analysed. The respondents answers were divided into three categories: single mother status, status assessment, qualities of the single mother’s personality. The results of a comparative analysis of women’s social perceptions about single motherhood for the period from 2014 to 2019 have been presented. Based on the results obtained, conclusions about the change in perceptions of single mothers over the past 5 years, the emergence of a new image of a single woman with a child – “solo mom”, have been made.

The issue on the first principles of Internet building in China has been considered. An overview of establishment has been made and the specifics of the development of the Chinese information technology industry in recent years has been analysed. The influence of the state policy on digital technology market has been studied. The principles of Chinese authorities’ actions in relation to the domestic and foreign high tech markets have been highlighted. The causes of the Chinese industry rapid development, based on the state activity aimed at supporting the local manufacturers, have been analysed. Protectionism policy defining the government control pattern has been evaluated. Chinese development main program scale, embracing not only national, but also world economics, has been considered. It has been shown how domestic economy policy coincides with Chinese government foreign policy and how it is directly reflected in it. A parallel has been drawn between the principle of establishing of social credit system and the idea of counting merits and drawbacks, laying in the basis of finely built system of rewards and punishments of traditional Chinese society. A connection of this tradition with the official goal of the system, stated by the government of China to teach the Chinese society to become more honest by complete surveillance over people, has been shown. It has been shown how this system classifies people into several categories, creating the lists of those to reward and those to censure. The mechanism of how the state uses private companies’ resources, applying all its power to influence on them, has been considered. A critical analysis of the foundations of the system from the point of view of Western democracy values has been carried out. An overview of development prospects of the studied system and the assessment of the risks associated with it have been made. It has been noted that despite the fact that the basic ideas for the system are borrowed from the international practice of the financial sector, making decisions on authorizing going beyond the judicial system and transferring the classification of people in the lists of good and bad to the level of algorithms run counter to the principles of European and international law.