Theoretical and methodological foundations for researching the risks and resources of digital interactions

Abstract

Digitalization creates rapidly changing conditions in which individuals and various communities function socially. Digital media permeate social interactions, transforming their forms and content and entailing increased risks and resources for subjects. Several collisions can be identified at the intersection of research on interactions in digital environments and approaches to studying the risks and resources of such interactions: 1. A psychological analysis of subject–environment interactions in the ‘individual–digital environment’ system (V. I. Panov) has shown that a digital environment (DE) can perform subjective functions. This system can therefore transform into a holistic subject, or a meta-subject. However, this has not yet been conceptualized in social psychology. 2. The problem of developing an extended self (Belk), extended mind (MacFarquhar), completed human (Feigenberg), and extended psyche (Falikman) is being actively discussed with regard to digitalization. However, it is yet unclear whether the digital environment provides only ‘extended’ properties or there are any losses too. 3. The digital environment is considered a factor in developing intraand inter-group interactions through increased eflogical sense regardless of their organizational specifics. The digital environment can thus act as a factor of interaction imbalance. 4. Cross-cultural factors also influence digital interactions. This stratification shows the difference in how various cultures perceive the same risks. Yet it remains unclear to what extent socio-cultural determination defines the risks and resources of these interactions. The digital environment has therefore changed interaction conditions. To analyze the risks and resources of such interactions, we see a need for further study into the well-known concepts of relationship, interaction, communication, mutual understanding, as well as theories of dyadic interaction, the concept of symbolic interactionism, and others. We believe such analysis and the approach derived from it will have the potential to explain the transformation patterns of risks and resources in digital interactions. This article contributes to the theoretical understanding of this approach.