Abstract: The functioning of society and its institutions is manifested in various practices that embody both officially established and a wide variety of socio-cultural norms. The subject of the study of this work includes systems of interactions and relationships in networks of intellectuals, which are formed in the process of habitualization of mechanisms of informal practices in the context of modern social development. The formal normative foundations of modern societies that ensure their stability and development prospects are studied. Guided by the concept of R. Merton, the authors emphasize the recognition of the permissibility of deviations from ideal normative designs. The object of the study is the processes of institutionalization of informal practices in the current conditions of social existence. The specifics of the design of intersubjective interactions between participants in networks of intellectuals in various informal institutions are presented, according to which their elements become generally accepted practice and in fact confirm their importance in the emerging relations, directing the development of modern social systems. The methodological foundations of the research are works on social philosophy, sociology, history and political science. The authors also addressed the methods and principles of the institutional, praxiological, network and system approach, as well as the theory of social interaction. The scientific novelty of the conducted research consists in identifying the ultimate foundations of informal practices, substantiating their heuristic advantages for modern social development in the theoretical and applied aspect, analyzing the regulatory capabilities of intelligent networks in relation to the normative foundations of specific spheres of social existence. The main conclusions drawn by the authors allow us to see that informal practices, including such socio-cultural concepts as activity orientations and attitudes, values and expectations, along with officially fixed and socially approved behavioral patterns, determine the effectiveness of intersubjective interactions and the attraction of additional resources. It is emphasized that in the realities of modern society on a global scale, the spheres of life are regulated by both formal norms and ideas introduced by intellectual networks, which contain informal rules.