On the Wave of Hype: Destructive Ideologies in Political Discourse

The article analyzes the peculiarities of penetration of destructive ideologies into the content of political discourse under the influence of generated hype. The relevance of addressing the issue is due to the development of specific technologies used by the media in the process of forming public opinion in the context of promoting traditional Russian spiritual and moral values against the background of hybrid warfare. The subject area of the study is revealed by considering the example of quadrobing as a subculture that contradicts Russian traditional spiritual and moral values, defined by individual government and political figures as a destructive ideology. The interpretation of the concept of “destructive ideology” in the research context correlates with the content of a similar term, fixed in the regulatory framework of the Russian Federation. Methodologically, the research is based on a combination of normative-value and communicative approaches, and its direct research methods are discourse analysis and case study. As a result of the research, the destructive nature of quadrobing has been established, acting as a threat to Russian traditional spiritual and moral values due to its mass characterization. It is concluded that the generated hype around quadrobing contributed to the formation of a public outcry and increased attention to the need for government authorities to regulate the problem. The practical result of the media hype created was the development of a bill banning destructive ideologies in Russia, the control over the spread of which is especially important in the context of ideological confrontation with the collective West. The conclusions indicate the constructive potential of hype generation technology in the process of making a controversial issue of public importance and forming the basis for its regulatory regulation due to penetration into political discourse.