Media format vs genre in social media

The article examines the correlation between the media format in social media (for example, messages on a social network or instant messenger) and the genre as a typical communicative practice of using this format for certain pragmatic tasks. The theoretical ideas of the article are illustrated by the results of observation of social media messages collected using big data technology to study the image of the city of Arkhangelsk. Semantic “manual” analysis of genres and observations of the media formats in which they are published allow us to propose a typology of social media, among which communication, infotainment and consumer ones stand out, in relation to typical technical formats of Internet communication – social network publication, messenger message, website publication, etc. The article identifies formats that are in demand in image discourse. In addition, the authors compile a list of genres used in each type of social media. The proposed list of categories and media formats of social media in relation to the genres used in them can be used in the study of other types of discourses of the Internet environment and images of other territorial entities.