USER CONTENT AS AN ELEMENT OF MEDIA LITERACY: PRACTICES OFTHEPOPULATION OF BELARUS

This article examines the characteristics of user content creation practices among the population of Belarus. The study aims to identify the specific features of user content creation in Belarus and to determine the influence of socio-demographic factors on these practices. The article highlights the most popular forms of user content creation among Belarusians. The empirical basis for this research is a monitoring study conducted by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus in 2022. The study employed a questionnaire survey method and utilized a nationally representative sample, stratified by gender, age, type of settlement, and region of residence (N = 1,848). The analysis of the data revealed that the most common content creation practices among the population of Belarus include writing comments on videos and posts, as well as sharing personal photos and videos online. The level of content creation activity was found to be influenced by socio-demographic factors such as age, education level, gender, and type of settlement. Based on the findings, the study concludes that the population of Belarus is not highly engaged in active interaction with media platforms. The most active content creators are predominantly young individuals and users with higher education.