Opinion Polarization on Covid-19 of Russian Language Users of Social Media: Relationship with Socio-Demographic Characteristics

With the spread of the global epidemic of coronavirus in the world, there has been a tendency of polarization of society in attitudes and opinions regarding the problem on a global scale. With respect to the polarization of the Russian-speaking population, similar studies had not been conducted. The problem of the study lies in the frequent consideration of the topics of health and Covid-19 only within the framework of psychological features and neglecting basic and objective socio-demographic indicators. The purpose of this paper is to determine the socio-demographic characteristics of two formed polarized groups in social networks: covid-dissidents and covid-loyalists. The research design is quantitative and consists of an online survey of social media users, which will provide key characteristics of the two polarized social groups and build their current portraits. The results of the study are the formulated recommendations for the implementation of information and communication policy of public authorities with the aim to reduce the polarization of opinions in society, which leads to the formation of various radical groups that represent a threat to the social well-being of the population.