Social status of the elderly in the context of digital transformation: discursive constructions in Russian online media (2018-2024)
Research Article
How to Cite
Ravchik M.I. Social status of the elderly in the context of digital transformation: discursive constructions in Russian online media (2018-2024). Humanities of the South of Russia. 2025. Vol. 14. No. 5. P. 222-236. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18522/2227-8656.2025.5.15 (in Russ.).
Abstract
Objective of the study is to identify how media texts construct, legitimize, and stratify the social roles and statuses of elderly subjects, mediating their inclusion in the digital environment. The research focuses on institutionalized mechanisms of symbolic status distribution in a platform-based society.
Methodological basis of the study combines reflexive thematic analysis and elements of critical discourse analysis, enabling the identification of stable thematic patterns and the examination of key discursive formations: paternalistic, activation-oriented, technocratic, and everyday-bureaucratic. The empirical base consists of a corpus of 36 articles selected from 120 texts published in Russian online media, with adherence to the principle of discursive saturation.
Results of the study show that media discourse not only describes the digital practices of older adults but also constructs a hierarchy of status positions. Competing role models emerge, ranging from the “object of care” to the “digital mentor” and “media producer.” Age ceases to be a biographical constant and becomes a variable defined by digital competence. Lexical choices, narrative frames, and thematic configurations reinforce an ambivalent model of old age-both as vulnerability and as a resource-simultaneously legitimizing and limiting the agency of elderly actors.
Prospects of the study include expanding visual analysis, deepening the institutional context, and conducting comparative studies of regional, platform-specific, and genre-based variations in the articulation of age-related normativity. The findings highlight the significance of media discourse as an institutional mediator in the production of age-based stratification.
Keywords:
elderly people, digital transformation, media discourse, social status, digital agency
References
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Kolomiets V. P. Mediatization of Media. Moskva: Izd-vo Moskovskogo universiteta = Moscow: Moscow University Press. 2020; 256 p. ISBN: 978-5-19-011552-9 (In Russ.)
Novikova V. P., Bragina O. A. The Concept of Ageism in Inclusive Media Discourse (Based on the English Language). Politicheskaya lingvistika = Political Linguistics. 2024; 1 (103): 76-84. (In Russ.)
Ryabov O. V. Age Discourse in the Contemporary Politics of Russian Identity. PolitBook. 2024; 3: 39-59. DOI 10.24412/2227-1538-2024-3-39-59. (In Russ.)
Selezneva A. G. Structural and institutional features of the digital society: theoretical aspect. Sovremennaya nauka: aktual'nyye problemy teorii i praktiki. Seriya: Ekonomika i pravo = Modern science: current problems of theory and practice. Series: Economics and law. 2022; 2: 246-248. DOI 10.37882/2223-2974.2022.02.07. (In Russ.)
Sokolova I. V. Mechanisms of formation of social stigmatization towards older people. Chelovecheskiy kapital = Human capital. 2024; 2 (182): 126-135. DOI 10.25629/HC.2024.02.12. (In Russ.)
Foucault M. The Archaeology of Knowledge. Translated from French by M. B. Rakova, A. Yu. Serebryannikova; Introduction by A. S. Kolesnikov. Sankt-Peterburg: ITS «Gumanitarnaya Akademiya»; Universitetskaya kniga = St. Petersburg: Humanitarian Academy Information Center; University Book. 2004; 416 p. ISBN 5-93762-034-8. (In Russ.)
Foucault M. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Translated from French by V. Naumov, edited by I. Borisova. Moskva: Ad Marginem = Moscow: Ad Marginem. 1999; 480 p. ISBN 5-93321-010-2. (In Russ.)
Borodkina O., Sibirev V. The Digital Capital of Social Services Consumers: Factors of Influence and the Need for Investment. Zhurnal issledovaniy sotsial'noy politiki = Journal of Social Policy Studies. 2021; 19 (1): 129-142. DOI 10.17323/727-0634-2021-19-1-129-142. (In Russ.)
Castells M. The Rise of the Network Society: The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Vol. 1. Cambridge (MA): Blackwell Publishers. 1996; 556 p. (Information Age Series).
Fairclough N. Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press. 1992; 272 p.
Mannheim I., Köttl H. Ageism and (Successful) Digital Engagement: a proposed theoretical model. The Gerontologist. 2024; 64 (9): 17.
Wangler J., Jansky M. Media portrayal of old age and its effects on attitudes in older people: findings from a series of studies. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 2023; 10. Art. 165. 9 p.
Article
Received: 10.06.2025
Accepted: 25.10.2025
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
APA
Ravchik, M. I. (2025). Social status of the elderly in the context of digital transformation: discursive constructions in Russian online media (2018-2024). Humanities of the South of Russia, 14(5), 222-236. https://doi.org/10.18522/2227-8656.2025.5.15
Section
SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN MODERN SOCIETY
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