KYIV AS AN OBJECT OF AUDIOVISUAL PRACTICES IN NEW MEDIA

Abstract

The article examines a group of objects in Kyiv city that are used to create audiovisual content for new media: social networks and YouTube. This refers to both videos and photos posted with music, which are popular on Instagram and TikTok. Analyzing, collating, and comparing large amounts of data as research methods made it possible to identify locations associated with certain events, trends, associations, stereotypes, or even specific traditions. Because of the focus on how often objects show up in new media, it was possible to figure out some of the changes in how «Instagram Kyiv» is presented. Thus, various points along Khreshchatyk Street have been replaced by videos and photos posted with music, depicting the Central Department Store («TSUM») itself, while lilacs and magnolias in the digital media space have replaced the traditional symbol of Kyiv city — the chestnut tree. The study also found that trends such as watching the sunrise on Volodymyrska Hill or walking across the nearby «Klychko Bridge», which offers views that often appear in the frame, have become particularly important for creators of audiovisual content.Meanwhile, it has been proven that Ukrainian capital is sometimes less aestheticized on YouTube, but more widely represented. We are dealing here with gastronomic, historical, cringe, somewhat mysterious, and sometimes demonized components of the city’s image and private stories associated with it. Nevertheless, each location captured on video or in photographs adds to the city’s biography on Internet services. Furthermore, attention was drawn to Facebook communities, where Kyiv is presented in a retro perspective, and Telegram, where the capital is largely devoid of aestheticization. Given the dialogical nature of new media, the article emphasizes that the number of views and reactions, both in the form of emojis and verbal comments, should be considered an important measure of content quality in terms of consumer understanding.