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The memory of childhood in the 1990s on social media: VKontakte and LiveJournal

https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2025-7-113-124

Abstract

The article deals with features of the representation of memory of childhood in the 1990s in Russia in the digital space. The analysis was based on different types of social media: groups on the social network VKontakte and personal blogs on the LiveJournal platform. The formal characteristics of the representation of memories on the Web are considered and the specific features of publications in each type of media are identified. On the VKontakte social network, we find a simplified narrative in publications about childhood in the 1990s, where entertaining visual content that reproducing nostalgic discourse prevails. While personal blogs on the LiveJournal platform are digital diaries with detailed autobiographical narratives, where there is a place not only for nostalgia, but also for critical reflection on the experience gained by users in childhood. The content of the publications is also analyzed. The analysis revealed six key themes that summarize childhood in the 1990s: everyday life of the past; leisure; media culture; conceptualization the experience of a generation; historical events; subcultures.

About the Author

E. V. Klimova
Russian State University for Humanities
Russian Federation

Elena V. Klimova

6-6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125047



References

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Review

For citations:


Klimova E.V. The memory of childhood in the 1990s on social media: VKontakte and LiveJournal. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: “Literary Teory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies”, Series. 2025;(7):113-124. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2025-7-113-124

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ISSN 2073-6355 (Print)