От пользователя к творцу: профессионализация создателей контента в России

Человек. 2026. Т. 37. № 5. С. 118–143.

Suvalko A.

This article analyzes the current state of Russia’s creator economy amidst the withdrawal of foreign platforms and rapid changes in Russian legislation regarding advertising and platform-based employment. The central hypothesis posits that the Russian market is in a liminal (transitional) state between the era of amateur user-generated content (UGC) and the full professionalization of creators. The empirical basis consists of 24 in￾depth interviews and three focus groups with key players in the influencer marketing market, conducted in 2024; the data are analyzed to reconstruct the professional perceptions of industry participants, while the liminality hypothesis serves as an explanatory framework requiring further quantitative verification. The results indicate that this liminality manifests in a structural contradiction between rapid commercial growth and a persistent “gray zone”, in the dual self-identity of creators — oscillating between a “costly hobby” and a media business — and in the shift from the “lone influencer” paradigm to the “creator as community leader” model. The concluding section discusses the social and institutional implications of professionalization: the blurring of boundaries between labor and leisure, the emergence of new forms of platform-based employment and social protection, and shifts in the nature of public visibility and trust within the digital environment.

Keywords: liminality, лиминальность, цифровые платформы, digital platforms, платформенная занятость, Digital communities, Цифровые сообщества, creator economy, content monetization, platform-based employment, экономика творцов, монетизация контента

Publication based on the results of: Human in the Digital Environment: Inclusive and Adaptive Strategies of Culture, Biopolitics and Biosemiotics (2025)