Web-Researches of Cultural Organizations (the Case of St. Petersburg)

Three types of cultural institutions are explored in this work: a museum and galleries, libraries, creative spaces and their life in social media. The empirical basis is a semi-structured interview and a community characteristics database in VK. The work is based on the concepts of the «organizational field», as well as the division of «new» and «old» institutions. A specific feature of the «new» institutions is the combination of different artistic, scientific, educational and commercial activities within one organization and reliance on private financing. The goal of the work is to understand how different types of organizations are represented in social media, what strategies and forms of interaction they use and why. This work aims to answer questions related to the impact of the difference in resources on life in social networks, the metrics of communities of different types of institutions, the importance of promotion through social networks for different types of institutions. The analysis shows the separation of institutions into a low-resource and active non-state sector with high commercialization, whose survival directly depends on social networks; A rich sector of old institutions are legitimized organizations that do not need promotion, receive government funding and grants; And the sector of state institutions that have resources fully funded by the state but not published on the Internet and who can afford a narrow specialization and a lack of client-orientation. The effectiveness of the promotion of cultural and creative industries in social networks largely depends on the activity of the organization in everyday life, its involvement in project activities. The highest indicators for community characteristics in VK are demonstrated by museums and galleries actively covering event activities and implementing interactive programs, as well as creative spaces with a high degree of commercialization and a professional approach to social networking.