The impact of mass media on the formation of value orientations among students (based on research materials from the city of Barnaul)

Mass media play a significant role in shaping the value system of modern youth, serving as a crucial agent of socialization in the context of a digital society. In contemporary conditions, social networks, internet platforms, and digital media are becoming key sources of information, models of behavior, and benchmarks for young people. The study is dedicated to analyzing the influence of the media space on the value orientations of student youth in the city of Barnaul, investigating how digital channels shape perceptions of goodness, success, responsibility, and personal freedom. Special attention is given to the transformation of traditional values such as family, friendship, and education under the influence of media. The aim of the work is to identify the direction, specifics, and mechanisms of the digital environment’s impact on the structure of students' value orientations, as well as to determine the media factors that most actively influence the formation of moral, social, and behavioral attitudes. A methodology was developed, and a sociological study was conducted among the student youth of Barnaul (aged 18–25). A total of 360 respondents participated in the survey. This research allows for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of digital media influence, the identification of students’ priority value positions, and the assessment of the role of modern information channels in shaping the worldview of youth in Barnaul. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the empirical confirmation that digital media serve as the dominant agent of socialization, gradually displacing traditional institutions. In the regional context of Barnaul, the phenomenon of the transformation of traditional values under the influence of the media environment has been identified and described for the first time. For example, the value of family, while retaining formal significance (65%), takes the form of a commercialized media product. The main findings of the study indicate a noticeable shift in students' value orientations: according to the respondents, the cult of money (78%), the pursuit of pleasure (70%), and power (60%) dominate, which is related to the perception of media content in the contemporary digital space. Furthermore, 82% of participants believe that the crisis of values among modern youth is largely due to the influence of social networks. The practical significance of the results lies in justifying the need to introduce media literacy programs into the educational process of higher educational institutions, aimed at developing critical thinking and forming a conscious, sustainable value system among student youth.

media, value orientations, student youth, socialization, social media, digital environment, traditional values, transformation, value contradictions, cult of money