The specifics of media consumption of political information by students: a regional aspect (based on the results of a sociological study)

The article presents the results of a sociological study conducted by a survey in the period from March 2022 to March 2024 by the Department of Public Relations and Applied Political Science of Kazan Federal University in order to identify the level of student interest in politics, youth preferences regarding the choice of sources of political news in the QMS, including in the media, and trust in them. Thus, based on the purpose of the study, its object is the student youth, and the subject is the specifics of the media consumption of political information by the student youth. The data obtained from the study of students' requests for the consumption of political content, its impact on the attitude of young students to politics and the institution of elections in the context of digitalization of everyday media practices are described. The methodological basis of the research was based on the analysis of media consumption by young people, as well as the level of interest in political information, its sources, and forms of presentation in social networks. The empirical base is the data from a survey of KFU students in the period from March 2022 to March 2024. The increasing influence of media systems, digital industries and technologies on all processes taking place in society has actualized the problem of optimizing interaction in the communication space in all its segments, including in the field of politics, in the processes of legitimization of power. The formation of a model of interaction between the younger generation and the government, its communication with the political elite and public administration institutions is particularly difficult. This problem is connected, on the one hand, with the high integration of young people into the digital environment, the mediatized format of socialization, and the growing multi-level demand of the younger generation for social media. On the other hand, the difficulty of establishing communication between young citizens and the authorities is due to their certain detachment from the world of politics. The results obtained indicate a low level of interest among young people in it, which is largely situational in nature, usually associated with some major events. In general, a rather low social and political activity of the new generation has been revealed, which is also recorded by numerous other researchers, since there is undoubtedly a potential interest of the younger generation in politics.

youth, media content, media behavior, electoral institute, political participation, sources of political information, media sources, media consumption, life values, political activity