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The Russian network society 87All this has led to a drastic decline in living standards for the majority ofRussians. In early 2003, about 60 percent of Russians were living below aminimum living standard, according to estimated data provided by the Russianmedia. New forms of employment – a combination of low-paid professionalactivity and additional salaries earned in leisure hours – have become the normin the Russian labor market, thus hindering the restructuring of the nationaleconomy. As the result of under-investment in the national social system,many social institutions have lost their social significance and become marginalized.Decline of state-supported education, health care, and pension systems,and a crisis in the state financing of cultural institutions, have seriouslydamaged individual attitudes to outdated social institutions.In these circumstances, many Russians associate the country’s future withthe progress of telecommunications and new media, first and foremost withthe Internet and mobile telephony. The idea of the revolutionizing potential ofinformation technology has been strongly accepted by Russian intellectuals.“Technological determinists” have accepted the leading role of the “West,” theUSA, and some advanced Asian states in hardware and software production,but remain convinced that Russia can benefit both socially and politically fromthe use of the Internet in social communication and interpersonal contact.Many expectations have been raised by the potential of the Internet toconstruct a new social reality, to support the creation of new democratic institutionsin post-communist Russia instead of the outdated social and politicalstructures still existing in the political environment. The idea of transparentonline communication between state and citizens has given birth to naïvepolitical aspirations about the possibility of Russia catching up with the “civilizedworld” and successfully implementing a Western European model ofdemocracy, at least in the online domain (Ovchinnikov, 2002).There is a strong rationale behind this approach. Even taking into accountnew Russian inequalities, the progress of the new media provides a clear caseof the positive adaptation of global changes by modern Russian society,although this is a limited case of fragmented globalization which has involveda small, but advanced and flexible part of Russian society. A fraction of theRussian population, a group of urban dwellers, made up of comparativelyyoung, rich professionals and middle-class intellectuals, the “intelligentsia,”has become the core of the Russian network society.Runet, the Russian-language sector of the Internet, has been defined bycommunication scholars as a new Russian miracle, especially in terms of thegrowth in number of users and increase in supply of Russian languageresources and online services (Doctorov, 1999). The brief, but astonishinghistory of Runet provides some observations crucial to an understanding of theRussian network society.Technically, the Internet first appeared in the Soviet Union as a purely
88 Elena Vartanovascientific and academic computer network, with only a few academics havingaccess to the evolving international network. The development of the Internetin Russia can be divided into three main periods. In the first period, from 1991to 1993, the main users were academic institutions in the leading researchcenters, such as Moscow, St Petersburg, and Novosibirsk. In the secondperiod, from 1993 to 1996, the Internet moved to business and spread mainlyin Moscow and St Petersburg, two major cities which were telecommunicationclusters and provided a model for spreading the Internet throughout Russia(Perfiliev, 2002b). Among the users were state officials, businessmen, andjournalists employed by large media companies. In the present period (since1996) growth has taken place in large academic centers (Novosibirsk, Samara,Ekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk) outside Moscow andSt Petersburg.Although the progress of the Internet in the regions is apparent, its unevennessremains a crucial characteristic of the present situation. Of all RussianInternet users, almost one-third are residents of the Central and Northernregions, one-third are in Siberia and the Far East, but the southern areas havea much lower share: 8.8 per cent (Perfiliev, 2002a). The number of domainsdemonstrates the dominance of Moscow (35.5 per cent of domains in net.ru,com.ru, org.ru, pp.ru zones and 66.5 per cent in .ru zone), St Petersburg (6.3per cent and 5.8 per cent), and foreign states, i.e. domain computers that arelocated outside Russia (32.9 per cent and 6.9 per cent), while the presence ofother Russian regions and local contents is extremely low (Rumetrica, 2002).Compared to many countries, public use of the Internet began slowly inRussia. However, from 1993 to 1997 the number of Russian Internet usersdoubled each year. In 1998, it survived the August crisis and the number ofusers exceeded 1 million (see table 3.1). The statistics show that the numberof Russian Internet users ever connected to the Internet now stands at close to18 million (about 25 percent of the population), and the number of frequentusers is about 8 million (Mezhdunarodnyi otraslevoi almanakh, 2002: 13).Patterns of Internet development in Russia resemble its global growth. Theprogress initially took place in big cities, primarily in Moscow. Internet penetrationin the capital is still the highest compared to other cities, but theTable 3.1Dynamics of the Russian Internet audience (in millions)Audience 1998 2000 2002No. of frequent users 0.2 5.0 8Maximum no. of users 1.1 9.2 18Source: Mezhdunarodnyi otraslevoi almanakh 9 (2002): 12–13, 14–15
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88 Elena Vartanovascientific and academic computer network, with only a few academics havingaccess to the evolving international network. The development of the Internetin Russia can be divided into three main periods. In the first period, from 1991to 1993, the main users were academic institutions in the leading researchcenters, such as Moscow, St Petersburg, and Novosibirsk. In the secondperiod, from 1993 to 1996, the Internet moved to business and spread mainlyin Moscow and St Petersburg, two major cities which were telecommunicationclusters and provided a model for spreading the Internet throughout Russia(Perfiliev, 2002b). Among the users were state officials, businessmen, andjournalists employed by lar<strong>ge</strong> media companies. In the present period (since1996) growth has taken place in lar<strong>ge</strong> academic centers (Novosibirsk, Samara,Ekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk) outside Moscow andSt Petersburg.Although the progress of the Internet in the regions is apparent, its unevennessremains a crucial characteristic of the present situation. Of all RussianInternet users, almost one-third are residents of the Central and Northernregions, one-third are in Siberia and the Far East, but the southern areas havea much lower share: 8.8 per cent (Perfiliev, 2002a). The number of domainsdemonstrates the dominance of Moscow (35.5 per cent of domains in net.ru,com.ru, org.ru, pp.ru zones and 66.5 per cent in .ru zone), St Petersburg (6.3per cent and 5.8 per cent), and foreign states, i.e. domain computers that arelocated outside Russia (32.9 per cent and 6.9 per cent), while the presence ofother Russian regions and local contents is extremely low (Rumetrica, 2002).Compared to many countries, public use of the Internet began slowly inRussia. However, from 1993 to 1997 the number of Russian Internet usersdoubled each year. In 1998, it survived the August crisis and the number ofusers exceeded 1 million (see table 3.1). The statistics show that the numberof Russian Internet users ever connected to the Internet now stands at close to18 million (about 25 percent of the population), and the number of frequentusers is about 8 million (Mezhdunarodnyi otraslevoi almanakh, 2002: 13).Patterns of Internet development in Russia resemble its global growth. Theprogress initially took place in big cities, primarily in Moscow. Internet penetrationin the capital is still the highest compared to other cities, but theTable 3.1Dynamics of the Russian Internet audience (in millions)Audience 1998 2000 2002No. of frequent users 0.2 5.0 8Maximum no. of users 1.1 9.2 18Source: Mezhdunarodnyi otraslevoi almanakh 9 (2002): 12–13, 14–15
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