Media Consumerism as a Socio & Cultural Trend in the Modern Russian Media Space

Abstract

The article is of a controversial nature. According to the author, media consumerism is becoming one of the leading sociocultural practices of media consumption. This is a narrower concept compared to media consumption in general, and it involves a number of features that can be traced in the material of modern popular media products. In particular, it is argued that modern media consumerism was initially formed in Russia against the background of fatigue from news content and currently satisfies and at the same time provokes the entertainment needs of the younger generation. The author’s analysis of popular media products shows that the success of their consumption depends on a number of factors: they are aimed at the younger generation, but imply a universal audience, and are trend-setting and diffuse in nature. All this together ensures high ratings for media projects, which in turn attract even more users. But the specificity of media consumerism is such that, despite all the success and comprehensiveness, the demand for such products is very short-term, since the audience always demands something new. It is assumed that such characteristics give grounds to consider modern media consumerism as a certain phenomenon that requires careful study.