Bacheloarbeit Heorhii Topalov: The Role of Social Media in the Context of Russian-Ukrainian War

In the contemporary era, ICTs have become an indispensable component of warfare. Their capacity to disseminate information rapidly and on a vast scale renders them an indispensable tool in the modern battlefield. In order to gain insight into the utilisation of social media in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war during the period of 2022, it is imperative to examine the activities of Ukrainian groups such as the North Atlantic Fella Organization (NAFO) and InformNapalm. Given the rapid pace of ICTs development, the databases of related literature are becoming increasingly out of date and require updating with contemporary patterns. A number of strategies were identified during the research, including information warfare, propaganda, mobilisation, activism, and crowdfunding. Through the qualitative content analysis of selected cases and systematic literature review were presented examples of leveraging of social media to influence public opinion, mobilise resources, and document events in real-time. The study identifies the purposes of NAFO and InformNapalm, including the debunking of misinformation, fact-checking and intelligence, fundraising campaigns, trolling and memetic warfare, and the dissemination of information to a broader audience. It analyses their influence on the warfare in Ukraine in 2022.

Betreuerin: Laura Guntrum, MA

Prüfer: Prof. Dr. Dr. Christian Reuter