Silverman, CarolSmith, Kyle2020-12-082020-12-082020-12-08https://hdl.handle.net/1794/25901In this thesis I examine how social media and the internet function as an alternative to Habermas’ public sphere and their potential to facilitate public discourse in the Russian Federation. Using in-depth interviews conducted in Moscow in 2019, I attempt to show how recent political and social circumstances influence such uses by young adults. To understand actually existing uses of these technologies, I contextualize these interviews within facets of post-Soviet life such as media bias, lack of trust in journalistic institutions and politicians, and political apathy. In this sense, this project has the potential to show how agentive uses of social media and the online space function as an alternative to Habermas’ public sphere within the context of my interlocutors’ lifeworlds.en-USAll Rights Reserved.HabermasLifeworldPost SovietPublic SphereRussiaSocial MediaElectronic Thesis or Dissertation