ABSTRACT
The internet,2 like any other form of new media (DVDs, mobile phones, virtual reality, etc.), enjoys all the appeal of “the most recent.” The “new” celebrates the avant-garde, a place for unconventional ideas and forward-looking people (both producers and consumers), and an exciting and glamorous lifestyle. People invest in the new media because the new technologies carry a promise of change and development that covers all aspects of social and private life, such as new educational opportunities, increased productivity, more efficient management, new forms of communication and entertainment, and so forth. Of course, the “new” is part of a powerful ideology and a narrative of progress in a modern society that propels infinite consumption of goods and ideas. In the Russian context, the emergence and development of new media have been associated with post-Soviet economic and cultural developments. The new technologies often stand for new entrepreneurial motives and conditions, and for new emulatory values and mores.
