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reports that do exist but don't circulate, and data that doesn't exist but should exist.
It is human nature that structures the character of social media too - we disregard, pay no
attention to opinions that we don't like, opinions that aren't in tune with our ideological
convictions. We seek out people who have the same opinions and points of view as we
do. We create our own online environment. There are those who assume that information
in social media is not controlled. You think that social media build ties between people
that help us talk to one another. That surely is awesome, it's a great idea. But that's not
what happens today. If we see more nuances in this landscape, we'll realize that the struc-
ture of social media is also based on human nature.
Yelena Vartanova, professor at Lomonosov Moscow State University and head of its De-
partment of Journalism: We are all raising overlapping issues here, and so there will be
some theses in my presentation that have been stated already.
The reason why information wars have become an object not only of practical but also
academic discussion is that they affect audiences. Whether an information war is successful
or not depends on the volumes, quantity and quality of information used in it.
We are turning today to social media, to new media, which are part of the media system.
Journalism is an open profession. But journalists have one very important task, a task they
absolutely have to be taught. This task is creation of agendas. An agenda that is put to-
gether competently and with a sense of social responsibility is something that distinguishes
a professional journalist from a dilettante. So it's fair to say today that making an agenda
is, of course, a task in its own right.
But I would probably disagree with the point of our esteemed speaker Lucio Caracciolo
that we live in a society that is not the same as the former society where we knew one an-
other very well. It's true that we live in a different society. But the reason we don't know
one another is not that something has changed. It's the society itself that has changed -
it's become fragmented.
Digital society presents us with numerous challenges in information war environments.
The modern Russian spends eight hours per day seeing or hearing media content. In this
respect the Russian isn't too different from the American, who spends 11 hours per day
in the company of various types of media, whether they are social networks or traditional
media such as television or the press.
I agree with the previous speaker that we need media education. Of course we do.
In conclusion, I'd like to say that our political discussions are obviously becoming less pro-
fessional. There are upsides to this because there's a growing diversity of voices, but there
are downsides as well because it's sometimes cooler to write something on Facebook than
not to write anything.