How to choose an application for conducting online interviews? Methodical recommendations

The article addresses the issue of selecting an application for conducting online interviews. An attempt is made to describe the specifics of qualitative online interviews from the perspective of methodological principles that impose constraints, open opportunities, and set requirements for online interview tools. As a result of analyzing these principles, a list of parameters for the applications suitable for comparison is formulated: no restrictions in the free version; unlimited conference duration; capability for video recording; screen sharing capability; ability to use without video; a separate conference chat; automatic chat saving; ability to use without an account; capability for interviewing informants in non-Russian-speaking environments; integration with electronic calendars. Using Zoom, Telegram, Yandex.Telemost, and Google Meet as examples, a comparison is made to select the best tool for conducting online interviews. The author emphasizes that the developed recommendations represent only the initial stage of methodological reflection on the choice of applications aimed at the preliminary structuring of the material.