Media communications: three logics of social interaction in the hybrid media space

Section: Discussion

This article develops a conceptual framework for understanding media communications as a hybrid socio-technical environment rather than a single process of mediated information transfer. Building on the Russian debate on the institutionalization of “Media Communications” as an educational field, the paper argues that many curricula implicitly reproduce a journalism-centered model focused on content production. To overcome this reduction, the article distinguishes two professional lenses: the informant, whose normative task is accurate public reporting within centralized communication, and the social architect, whose task is to design communicative orders – visibility regimes, circulation pathways, norms of interaction, and trust infrastructures. The proposed typology outlines three co-existing interaction logics in hybrid media space: 1) centralized broadcasting (one-to-many), 2) networked distribution (many-to-many), and 3) personal dialogic communication (one-to-one / one-to-few), characterized by perpetual connectivity and blurred public/private boundaries. The paper emphasizes the growing importance of the distribution logic shaped by platforms and algorithmic visibility. The conclusion formulates educational implications: media communication programs should prioritize competencies for designing and governing transitions between interaction logics, training communicators as social architects rather than merely advanced content creators.

DOI: 10.55959/msu.vestnik.journ.3.2026.91116

References:

Adam'yants T. Z. (2023) Ponimanie v sfere sotsial'noj kommunikatsii kak mental'naya tekhnologiya [Understanding in the sphere of social communication as a mental technology]. Chelovek 34 (1): 51–67. DOI: 10.31857/s023620070024827-6. (In Russian)

Akhmadulin E. V. (2024) Zhurnalistika i mediakommunikatsii: evolyutsiya sredstv massovoj informatsii ili dve sistemy? [Journalism and media communications: the evolution of mass media or two systems?]. Izvestiya YuFU. Filologicheskie nauki 28 (1): 194–204. DOI: 10.18522/1995-0640-2024-1-194-204. (In Russian)

Bolotova A. K., Zhukov Yu. M. (2015) Psikhologiya kommunikatsij [Psychology of communications]. Moscow: Higher School of Economics Publ. (In Russian)

Bourdieu P. (2002) O televidenii i zhurnalistike [On television and journalism]. Moscow: Pragmatika kul'tury Publ. (In Russian)

Castells M. (2016) Vlast' kommunikatsii [Communication power]. Moscow: Higher School of Economics Publ. (In Russian)

Chadwick A. (2017) Hybrid media system: Politics and power. New York: Oxford University Press. 368 p. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190696726.001.0001.

Fuchs C. (2025) Osnovy kritiki sotsial'nykh media: ucheb. posobie [Foundations of social media critique: a textbook]. Moscow: Higher School of Economics Publ. (In Russian)

Goffman E. (2026) Formy razgovora [Forms of talk]. Moscow: Tsiolkovskij Publ. (In Russian)

Gureeva A. N. (2018) Kontseptualizatsiya protsessa mediatizatsii v Rossii i za rubezhom [Conceptualization of the mediatization process in Russia and abroad]. Medi@l'manah (5): 24–31. DOI: 10.30547/mediaalmanah.5.2018.2431. (In Russian)

Habermas J. (2005) Modern – nezavershyonnyj proekt [Modernity – an unfinished project]. In: Habermas J. Politicheskie raboty [Political writings]. Moscow: Praksis Publ. Pp. 7–31. (In Russian)

Hepp A., Hjarvard S., Lundby K. (2015) Mediatization: Theorizing the Interplay between Media, Culture and Society. Media, Culture & Society 37 (2): 314–324. DOI: 10.1177/0163443715573835.

Hepp A., Krotz F. (2014) Mediatized worlds – understanding everyday mediatization. In: Hepp A., Krotz F. (eds.) Mediatized Worlds. Culture and Society in a Media Age. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Pp. 1–15. DOI: 10.1057/9781137300355_1.

Kirtiklis K. (2017) Teoriya mediatizatsii kak teoriya sotsial'nykh izmenenij [Mediatization theory as a theory of social change]. Topos (1–2): 60–75. (In Russian)

Kiselyov A. G. (2011) Teoriya i praktika massovoj informatsii: podgotovka i sozdanie mediatekstov [Theory and practice of mass information: preparation and creation of media texts]. St. Petersburg. (In Russian)

Kokhanova L. A., Kalmykov A. A. (2009) Osnovy teorii zhurnalistiki: ucheb. posobie [Foundations of journalism theory: a textbook]. Moscow: YUNITI-DANA Publ. (In Russian)

Kolomiets V. P. (2024) Zhurnalistika i mediakommunikatsiya: artikulyatsiya issledovatel'skikh prostranstv [Journalism and media communication: the articulation of research spaces]. Medi@l'manah (2): 18–26. (In Russian)

Kol'tsova E. A., Kartashkova F. I. (2022) Mul'timodal'nyj kharakter tsifrovoj kommunikatsii: funktsionirovanie emodzi v mezhlichnostnom obshchenii [The multimodal nature of digital communication: the functioning of emoji in interpersonal communication]. Vestnik Rossijskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriya: Teoriya yazyka. Semiotika. Semantika 13 (3): 769–783. DOI: 10.22363/2313-2299-2022-13-3-769-783. (In Russian)

Konkina K. M., Khrapova D. M., Shtifanova P. V. (2025) Kontseptualizatsiya programmy «Mediakommunikatsii» na sajtakh rossijskikh vuzov: analiz s pomoshch'yu matematicheskogo modelirovaniya [Conceptualization of the «Media Communications» program on Russian university websites: an analysis using mathematical modeling]. Informatsionnoe obshchestvo (6): 86–97. (In Russian)

Krivonosov A. D. (2021) Mediakommunikatsii: na puti k institualizatsii? [Media communications: on the path to institutionalization?]. Rossijskaya shkola svyazej s obshchestvennost'yu – Al'manakh (14): 13–28. (In Russian)

Livingstone S. (2017) O mediatsii vsego [On the mediation of everything]. Kommunikatsii. Media. Dizajn 2 (2): 146–170. DOI: 10.17323/cmd.2017.7168. (In Russian)

Luhmann N. (2011) Obshchestvo obshchestva. I–III [Society of society. I– III]. Moscow: Logos Publ. (In Russian)

McQuail D. (1987) Mass Communication Theory: an Introduction. London: Sage.

Nazarov M. M. (2004) Massovaya kommunikatsiya i obshchestvo [Mass communication and society]. Moscow: Avanti Plyus Publ. (In Russian)

Shilova V. A., Pletneva M. A. (2025) Chelovek i sistemy iskusstvennogo intellekta: formirovanie gibridnoj modeli kommunikatsii [Humans and artificial intelligence systems: the formation of a hybrid communication model]. Gumanitarnye nauki. Vestnik Finansovogo universiteta 15 (5): 6–16. DOI: 10.26794/2226-7867-2025-15-5-6-16. (In Russian)

Taylor J. R. (2011) Organization as an (Imbricated) Configuring of Transactions. Organization Studies 32 (9): 1273–1294. DOI: 10.1177/0170840611411396.

Tyshetskaya A. Yu. (2023) Tsifrovye platformy i sovremennye mediakommunikatsii: aktual'nye issledovatel'skie podkhody [Digital platforms and contemporary media communications: current research approaches]. Mediaskop (4). Available at: http://www.mediascope.ru/2839 (accessed: 25.02.2025). (In Russian)

Vartanova E. L. (2024) Funktsii zhurnalistiki: traditsionnye i aktual'nye podkhody [Functions of journalism: traditional and current approaches]. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 10. Zhurnalistika (6): 3–30. DOI: 10.55959/msu.vestnik.journ.6.2024.330. (In Russian)

Vartanova E. L. (2022) K voprosu o posledstviyakh tsifrovoj transformatsii mediasredy [On the consequences of the digital transformation of the media environment]. Medi@l'manah (2): 8–14. DOI: 10.30547/mediaalmanah.2.2022.814. (In Russian)

Vartanova E. L. (2020) Razvivaya ponimanie media: ot tekhnologij k sotsial'nomu prostranstvu [Developing an understanding of media: from technologies to social space]. Medi@l'manah (5): 12–24. DOI: 10.30547/mediaalmanah.5.2020.1224. (In Russian)

Voroshilov V. V. (2017) Teoriya i praktika massovoj informatsii: uchebnik [Theory and practice of mass information: a textbook]. Moscow: KnoRus Publ. (In Russian)

Yakushina O. I. (2023) Sovremennye tsifrovye sredstva kommunikatsii i ikh vliyanie na postroenie lichnykh otnoshenij [Modern digital means of communication and their impact on building personal relationships]. Teoriya i praktika obshchestvennogo razvitiya (7): 97–106. DOI: 10.24158/tipor.2023.7.13. (In Russian)