IMAGE OF UKRAINE IN BLOGOSPHERE
Introduction: Study of Ukraine’s image in the foreign blogosphere helps to realize the state’s position in the global information space, as well as identify opportunities for information and political influence on the external audience. Purpose. To analyze the image of Ukraine in foreign blogosphere and to establish trends of social media usage for effective foreign communication of the state. Methods. Online services «LiveInternet.ru» and «Socialmention» were used for analysis of social media. Results. According to the online resource «LiveInternet.ru», in category «News and Media in Ukraine» were «TSN.ua», «Segodnya.ua» and «Ukrayinska pravda» among the most popular online media in November 2013. The Ukrainian users of Facebook, Vkontakte and Twitter take interest in the category of «Ukraine’s news», although the distribution between social media are uneven. It was established that for effective foreign communication Ukrainian political actors had to open accounts in Facebook and Vkontakte. The online service «Socialmention» was used for the analysis of the references about Ukraine in foreign blogosphere. In particular, it was found that 37% of people who mentioned the word «Ukraine» regularly participate in thematic discussions and in average on 15 positive messages accounted one negative. Among the authors who write about Ukraine should be allocated the multilingual Russian channel RT, the agency Reuters, the British media company ITN Productions which makes news for such channels as ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 and cooperates with Reuters, CNN, NBC and online partners Livestation, YouTube and MSN. Discussion. In the foreign blogosphere remains high percentage of breaking news about current political and economic events in Ukraine that may attract the attention of the world public opinion, but authors don’t write about other aspects of Ukraine’s life. In this connection we should provide the positive information about Ukraine for creating the positive image of the state in the social media. Conclusion: For effective management of government’s blogs, the authority should learn the target audience and purpose of the web resources visit, organize online conferences, post pictures and videos, provide search in the local database that supports simultaneous publication of information in multiple accounts of social media.