The Old and the New

In post-Communist Russia, when talking about new communications technology, one has to ask what is `new' and what is `old'. Already in the Communist era increasing availability of new communications technology (for example fax machines and email) amplified cheap `small' technology as an alternative to `big' and expensive technology controlled by the state. New communications technology, at the crossroads of mass and interpersonal communication, was harder for authorities to control and intensified the process whereby communication has escaped from political control. The introduction of new communications technology has been slow in post-Communist Russia in comparison to western countries because it is constrained by established state structures. The article concludes that although new communications technology provides new opportunities for individuals, old technology and structures set boundaries to the growth of the new.