Telegram channels of candidates for governor: an overview of practical use during the campaign period

Abstract

This article proposes to study the Telegram channels of the governors of the Republic of Khakassia, the Altai Territory and the Novosibirsk Region in the 2023 elections. and to identify the main trends in their use of this resource during the campaign period. The content analysis of the published information is carried out using frequency analysis and n-gram analysis, as well as channel statistics obtained through the service. TGstat.ru in order to identify the level of activity of the governors in the social network three months before the voting day. On this basis, the author identifies the dominant themes of the digital socio-political agenda, which was formed by the governors on their channels. It is concluded that the candidates who repeated their success after the 2018 elections did not fully use the opportunities to attract supporters through the Telegram messenger. Special attention is paid to measures to increase the information transparency of government representatives in Russia adopted after 2018, including the adoption of the federal law «On ensuring access to information on the activities of Government Agencies and local governments», the introduction of an appropriate criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of people's deputies, as well as the operational work of Regional Management Centers.