Social interaction as information exchange

This paper explores the ontological nature of social interaction as one of the basic forms of matter motion. The categories of exchange, as a universal mechanism of interactions in nature, and information, as a specific carrier of social type of interactions, are consistently analyzed. On the basis of interdisciplinary research we offer theoretical and methodological grounds for interpreting information exchange as a fundamental mechanism of social interaction. The position on the existence of the social information matrix - a specific social structure that mediates societal and socio-historical interaction is put forward. A generalizing model of social information exchange is constructed, which allows to describe processes of social interaction on all its structural levels: mental, interpersonal, group, social, societal and intergenerational. Within the framework of the offered model the analysis of specificity of different types and forms of social interaction is carried out. The work is of interest for specialists in social philosophy and sociology, as well as for all those interested in the social sciences.