The role of the media environment in managing the electoral activity of Russian youth

The object of the study is the electoral activity of the youth in Russia, manifested during nationwide electoral campaigns. The subject of the research is the influence of election information technology on the electoral activity of Russian youth. The authors analyze in detail the functioning of mass media as an institution of political socialization, as well as the tools and channels for forming targeted political communication aimed at a youth audience. Special attention is given to the analysis of specific practices of media support for electoral campaigns, as well as studying the dependence of youth electoral behavior on factors such as the level of trust in information sources, the attractiveness of content, and the forms of its presentation. The focus of the study is the process of shaping young citizens' intent to participate in voting under the influence of targeted media impact. The foundation of the work is based on the analysis of quantitative data from VTsIOM measurements for the period from 2016 to 2021, complemented by statistical processing and comparative analysis methods to identify stable trends. The article presents the results of the study on the influence of mass media on the formation and functioning of political communication in the youth environment in Russia. The role of mass media as an actor of political socialization for the younger generation is examined based on data obtained during the analysis of media support practices for electoral campaigns in the Russian Federation over the five-year period from 2016 to 2021, measuring the level of interest of young citizens in the electoral process, their activity, and the formation of intent to participate in voting. A dependence was identified between the behavior of the youth segment of the electorate and the effectiveness of information technologies in providing media support for the election process, the level of trust in sources, the attractiveness of the content, and the forms of presentation. The novelty of the research lies in a comprehensive approach to analyzing the media influence on youth in the electoral context over a five-year period, allowing for the identification of regularities. A significant contribution of the authors to the study of the topic is the establishment of a relationship between the effectiveness of the applied information technologies in media support for elections and the level of electoral activity of youth, analyzed using representative data.