Abstract: This article examines the peculiarities of social perception of a person in the Internet discourse. The relevance of the topic is dictated by the rapid development of the Internet and cyberspace, which leads to the trend that the new information space of virtual reality is considered the new reality. Various types of social communication, including empathy, compassion, manifestation and perception of emotions are shifting to the online sphere. The authors assume that the respondents have clearer perception of socio-psychological peculiarities of personality of the partner in direct communication, rather than in the context of Internet discourse. For proving this hypothesis, the survey was conducted among 80 young people aged 18 to 27, using the following methods:: the value questionnaire of S. Schwartz; orientation of the personality by Bass, Smekal, and Kuchera; Gaol-Means-Result questionnaire by A. A. Karmanov; and Rotter's Locus of Control Scale. A decision was made to balance the attraction factor, i.e. communication was carried out in the messengers Telegram and WhatsApp. The acquired data indicate that the participants of the group of direct communication are characterized with the primary values of power, and satisfaction with personal career success; they try to avoid in-depth emotions. The results quantitative analysis of Internet discourse group indicate that the respondents are characterizes with the primary values of power. It is established that the representatives of the group of direct communication have better perception of the socio-psychological peculiarities of personality of the partner than the respondents of the Internet discourse group; the ability to perceive the motives and values of the communication partner is statistically important.