Mass Society: Evolution from the Industrial to the Platform Era

Introduction. The article addresses a relevant sociological problem concerning the transformation of the foundations of mass society under the influence of digital platformization. Although the phenomenon of mass society continues to be widely studied in the social sciences, the problem of its qualitative changes resulting from the development of platform capitalism and algorithmic management remains insufficiently developed.

Methodology and sources. The research presents a theoretical analysis of the mass phenomenon, drawing on an interdisciplinary approach that integrates insights from social philosophy, cultural studies, media studies, and the economics of digital platforms. Basic concepts of the mass are drawn from the works of H. Blumer, E. Fromm, and J. Baudrillard; the analysis of mass society's evolution is conducted through the works of K. Mannheim,  K. Jaspers, G. Ritzer, V.I. Ilyin, and other Russian and foreign scholars; the digital transformation of mass society is examined through N. Srnicek's platform capitalism concept and A. Hepp and N. Couldry's theory of deep mediatization.

Results and discussion. The research demonstrates that the mechanisms of mass integration and control through attention management persist into the new digital era but undergo technological optimization. The three basic components of mass society – production, consumption, and culture-have been restructured on a platform basis. In production, post-Fordist flexibility and automation combine with algorithmic surveillance of a precarious workforce. Digital-era consumption is structured so that while maintaining a mass scale, it creates an impression of individualized service, simultaneously transforming user attention into the most important economic resource. The demassification of culture reproduces the logic of mass society at a new level, where atomized units become not only individuals but also niche communities that form a “mass” of parallel cultures.

Conclusion. Mass society in the digital era creates a paradoxical combination of massification and personalization, where the sense of freedom of choice masks new forms of control through recommendation algorithms and platform dependence. Platform mass society represents the evolution of industrial mass society under conditions of deep mediatization and digital algorithmic governance.

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