The Era of Messengers: How Compensatory Communication Helps Overcome Challenges of Total Digitalization (the Sociological Research)

Scientists consider communication and loneliness that arise at the mental level as global problems of our time. The article analyzes one of the most common modifications of compensatory communication today – communication in instant messengers and social networks, with the help of which the transformed communicative needs of individuals are satisfied. One of the key objectives of the study was to determine the extent to which real interpersonal contacts are being replaced by virtual communication among schoolchildren, college students, and university students. For this purpose, an analysis was carried out of the connection between real and virtual space, namely, of the respondents’ social circle and the frequency of their interactions in the real and virtual world. The results of the study show that online communication among the group under consideration is carried out in a mode of direct compensation and does not have a harmful effect on their communication environment. When used judiciously, it is neither a placebo nor a panacea for loneliness, although it would be a mistake to eliminate such a risk.