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Supervisors: Dr Allan Sikk and Dr Olga Cara
Present status: MPhil candidate
Working Title of Thesis: Investigating the impact of shared social media on the geo-political self-positioning of Russian-speaking teenagers on both sides of the Russian/Estonian border
Research: My research studies young people living on either side of the Estonian/Russian border, investigating the impact of Russian social media on their interpretation of current events. The research places the experiences and perspectives of young people in conversation with theories of identity and cultural and social psychology. The particular focus of my PhD is the identity of Russian-speaking youths in the Idu-Viru region (specifically in the city of Narva) and Russian youths in the Kingisepp Region of Leningrad Oblast.
I am conducting qualitative research among students in secondary schools in the two regions. I will analyse the young people's use of Russian-language social media for information on current affairs and their responses to certain news events over an extended period of time. Comparative analysis of data from the two groups (Russian-language diaspora and Russian nationals) investigates the interplay and relative influence on the young people's self-identification and geo-political self-positioning of shared Russian language social media culture and geographical location (within a particular nation state or union). The research is also alert to the influence of other factors such as the minority-majority and demographic status of the young people.