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The article considers how social networks produce an online memory of the Soviet past. Social networks are described as arenas that are open and accessible to many actors. These actors operate in a freer discursive field, not limited in their activity by dominant narratives about the past. It has been noted that social media can be used by citizens as a means of discussing the shared past and can act as a counter to elite discourse. In order to understand how the discussion of the Soviet past is structured in social media, a qualitative content analysis of three online group records and comments on them was conducted. The goal was to examine the main themes and arguments, as well as the characteristics of the discussion that emerged. Three popular social networks in Russia were chosen: Vkontakte, Instagram and Facebook. Three records with the most generalizing topic, devoted to the Soviet past, were selected. It was shown that during the process of constructing new meanings and creating interpretations, the actors of online memory rely both on the official discourse of the political elite about the Soviet past and the Russian present and on their subjective biographies and personal experiences. At the same time, social networks provide opportunities for the creation of alternative and counternarratives. The conclusion is made about the «absorptive» properties of the memory of the Soviet past, since actors are able to build into it any current events, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

The article analyzes the perception of the USSR of Russian citizens. The case of the Moscow inhabitants' narratives shows what the peculiarities of the image of the Soviet Union, and how the characteristics of socialization and other individual and collective experience influence the evaluation of the Soviet past and its legacy. The theoretical framework of the study is relied on the concept of nostalgia as a selective, changing, fragmented mnemonic phenomenon. The findings of the article are based on the results of an in-depth interview (N=11), which showed that people of different generations with different levels of education and disparate life experiences had a variety of perception of the Soviet past. Its formation largely depended on the context, including the characteristics of socialization. The representations of the older generation about the Soviet Union are more holistic, the family played the main role in formation of their pictures of Soviet past. The image of the USSR among the younger generation is more contradictory and fragmentary, and social and political institutions played a significant role in its formation. Despite critical remarks about the USSR, the informants showed nostalgic sentiments. A comparison of the statements of the respondents about the present day and the Soviet times allows us to conclude that the main elements shaping these sentiments are a lack of feelings of unity and pride in the country, as well as a lack of a sense of the state's concern for people.