The Phenomenon of Social Networks in the Context of Modern Information Space

The article is devoted to understanding the phenomenon of social networks in the context of modern information space.
The thesis substantiates that the most important feature of the Internet environment as a communicative space is the digital technologies use, digitalization. Information and communication component is one of the defining features of modern society, which provides unimpeded access to information and its exchange, no restrictions, and what is the framework of communication (political, geographical, temporal), interpenetration of ideas and cultures, feedback. At the same time, the information and communication society, with all the positive aspects of its organization, is also an environment for the implementation of any kind of manipulation and suggestive influences on individual members of the network community and their associations.
The article considers modern approaches to the study of social networks and their forms of "people's" participation in journalism, the role of the mass media in public opinion expression, the influence of mass communications on tastes, and the organization of social action. The author emphasizes that the phenomenon of society's reaction to the information disseminated in the network remains interesting for study. The study is especially true of socially momentous processes such as economics, politics, health, and education. The unique possibilities of social networks are outlined: as a specific social phenomenon, they appeared suddenly and began to develop rapidly, increasingly penetrating the life of society. This is the essence of any phenomenon when the new immediately becomes familiar.
The study emphasizes that the studied phenomenon is much broader. It is not only about changes in media consumption but also about the transformation of the information space as a plane of various socio-cultural practices.
It is concluded that social networks are a new but very dynamic phenomenon of the information space (the formation of which occurs both in Ukraine and in other countries), the problem field of which requires further research.