Vladimirova T.V. The Growth in the Intensity of Social Information Exchange and Peculiarities of Contemporary Social Practices

Abstract: Analysts and philosophers talk about the shrinkage of the social space and time. In her article Vladimirova views social communication and social information as a form and content of the informational aspect of social interaction. There is a growing number of evolutionary variation and selection mechanisms that have proved to be effective or socially adjustable. This makes the social evolution even faster (Niklas Luhmann). Social practices of the post-modern age acquire completely different characteristics. The research subject is the peculiarities of social practices caused by the growth in the intensity of social information exchange. Theoretical and methodological grounds of the research include Niklas Luhmann's neoclassical evolution theory, Jean Baudrillard's concept of simulation, V. Kemerov's concept of sociality, D. Ivanov's, Aleksey Losev's, Zygmunt Bauman's and Manuel Castells' ideas. Vladimirova also notes that the following peculiarities of social practices result from the growth in the intensity of information flows: risk and uncertainty, distance and abstraction. Networks define peculiarities of the contemporary practice  under the conditions of information flows. As an instrumental activity, network allows to develop different schemes of numerous relations and connections.  Vladimirova offers a hypothesis that evoluation of the social activity or practice involves the birth, development and potential death of some 'rational sociality' that is based on the increase of the information flow. Social practice has the following forms of sociality: absolute sociality (institutions), relative sociality (networks), situational and local sociality (particular interactions) and altersociality (space of flows) (D. Ivanov). On the other hand, Losev's perception of the 'name of a thing' as a piece of information is based on different features of the intensity of the information process that can be referred to absolute, relative, situational sociality and altersociality. Noteworthy, that one of the peculiarities of contemporary social practices is the colonization of the social relations by particular worldviews and patterns (Zygmunt Bauman) and orientation at 'network-based ahistoric space of flows' to the disadvantage of sustainability of social cultural codes (Manuel Castells).

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