Poleva N.S. Psychological aspects of the transformation of the digital space

The article considers the peculiarities of the current stage of Internet evolution. Social networks have paradoxically become a trigger of polarisation and tension, causing users to experience precarisation, alienation and isolation. The idealism of the Web 2.0 era is replaced by users' desire to isolate themselves and escape from the mainstream of the public Internet into the “Dark Forests” or sozyweb. These are closed chat rooms, groups and communities, which are now becoming a source of sociality and new social networks, demonstrating the manifestation of the global trend of decentralisation, individualisation and personalisation in the online space. The aim of the article is to analyse the psychological aspects of the ongoing transformations, which are connected for modern man with the satisfaction of the fundamental needs of the individual in security, belonging, information, understanding, search for meaning, individualisation and self-expression.

The methods of comparative, inductive, structural and functional analysis are used to reveal the internal logic of digital space transformations and their consequences.

The transformations that are taking place contribute to the reduction of experiences of precarity and the achievement of personal stability in the modern world. The psychological aspect of the trend for users to move to online mini-communities is also the actualisation of the intensification of individualisation of many multifaceted aspects of the inner world of a person, allowing a person to be who he or she wants to be and still be himself or herself, which brings us back to the problems of multiple digital identities and their integrity, the balance of personal and social identities, and the correlation between socialisation and individualisation. Based on their needs, interests, values, etc., a person chooses and/or creates/constructs an online minigroup corresponding to their individuality or its separate aspects, where personal identity actually coincides with social identity. Thus, the Internet is not only a factor of the modern digital world, which has a multifaceted impact on and shapes a person, but also a space that a person creates, constructs for himself as a safe space of communication, self-realisation, generation of new meanings and values.

Key words: Internet, sozyweb, online mini-communities and microgroups, individualisation, multiple digital identities

For citation: Poleva, N. S. (2025). Psychological aspects of the transformation of the digital space. New Psychological Research, No. 1, 56–79. DOI: 10.51217/npsyresearch_2025_05_01_03

Acknowledgment

The article was prepared within a state task, project FNRE-2024-0016 «Psychological effects of digitalization of the educational environment: opportunities for cognitive and personal development and socialization risks».