Post-material values and the search for meaning in the digital era

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the transformation of post-material values in the context of the digitalization of society and to determine their impact on the search for meaning and the identity formation of the contemporary individual. The article examines changes in the traditional ethos under the influence of the digitalization of social practices, the algorithmization of communication, and the proliferation of platform-based forms of interaction. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the substantiation of the concept of “algorithmic post-materialism”, which is defined as a new form of reproduction of post-material values in a platform society. It is shown that the digital environment acts not only as a space for realizing the values of self-expression, autonomy, and self-realization but also as an independent mechanism for their production, legitimization, and dissemination through algorithmically organized communication. As a result of the study, it is established that digital platforms are becoming significant institutions for shaping value orientations and the symbolic recognition of the individual. It is revealed that the search for meaning in a digital society acquires a predominantly individualized character and is increasingly carried out through the practices of digital self-presentation, networked interaction, and the construction of digital identity. Finally, it is established that digitalization transforms the ways of reproducing post-material values, shifting the processes of meaning-making into the domain of algorithmically mediated social communication.