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The presented study analyzes the evolution of the concept of political leadership; examines the specific features of self-presentation of political leaders associated with development of digital communication technologies; develop and substantiate the methodological principles of analyzing the strategies of political leaders in the online space; identify and describe the major research methods, including the specific aspects of working with big data when analyzing the digital communication of political leaders; examines modern methods of mathematical modeling that make it possible to solve problems in the development and implementation of efficient online strategies for political leaders (probability models, deterministic and stochastic models, models based on game theory, etc.).

Introduction. Practices of social bots are becoming more diverse, bots are used in politics, economics, culture, health care, education, etc. In this connection, the need to analyze this new digital technology for disseminating information by various social actors, pursuing different social goals (both destructive and constructive) has been mainstreamed. The authors focus on chatbots used by volunteer organizations to expand their social influence. The paper realizes the following objectives: it considers the innovative experience of using chatbots in the volunteer movement of a number of foreign countries, and also analyzes the use of chatbots by Russian volunteer organizations for the first time.Methodology and sources. The authors developed and applied a methodology for analyzing the structure and functions of chatbots by the following parameters: 1) the purpose of the chatbot; 2) the functions that it performs; 3) external characteristics of the bot; 4) the procedure for starting the bot; 5) the platform on which it operates; 6) the productivity of its activities.Results and discussion. The results of a comparative study of five identified bots according to these parameters showed that the goals of creating chatbots in the volunteer sphere of Russian charitable and non-profit organizations are determined by their functions. There were identified three main functions: fundraising; informing; recruiting. The external characteristics and launch procedures of the chatbots in question differ depending on the specificity of the platforms on which they operate (Telegram, Facebook Messenger, VKontakte). As a possible discussion, the authors consider such problems as further developing the typology of social bots, the prospect of using chatbots for Russian volunteer organizations, the development of parameters for evaluating the effectiveness of chatbots in the volunteer movement and adjusting their functioning.Conclusion. According to the results of the study, the authors conclude that the study of the field of application of “benign” bots is an extremely relevant, but poorly understood problem in modern science. In the paper, on the basis of studies carried out by foreign researchers (S. Savage, A. Monroy-Hernandez, T. Höllerer, K. Starbird, L. Palen), the productivity of such bots in the field of volunteering was shown, as well as the productive experience of similar digital technologies (in particular, chatbots) in the Russian volunteer movement was analyzed for the first time.

In the study of social bots, one of the important trends is the transition from a technology-centered understanding of bots as a threat to information and computer security to a broader, socially-focused understanding of bots as a new tool of informational influence used by various social actors in online social networks. This transition is of value to modern sociology. As one such actor, the authors consider a group of civic activists who use bot-technology to construct and solve the problem of defrauded equity holders. The novelty of the article lies in the interpretation of this group’s activities in the context of the concept of public arenas. The botnet “Deceived equity holders of LenSpecStroy” was detected thanks to the author’s complex methodology that combined the method of frequency analysis of messages, profiling of bot accounts, including static and behavioral analysis of user profiles, statistical analysis of texts, analysis of the botnet’s structural organization, analysis of the content of its publications, and analysis of bursts of network publication activity. Analyzing these bursts of publication activity and the content of botnet publications showed how bot-technologies aided in implementing effective techniques aimed at constructing and maintaining the social problem of defrauded equity holders: expanding the capacity of the public arena, realizing (creating) dramaturgical novelty and emotional richness in discussing the problem, taking into account the organizational specifics of the public arena, directing interest in the problem towards other (related and equally important) public arenas (media, legislative and executive power, political parties).

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