Coffee shop, gentlemen’s club and social network, or where the public opinion is shaped today

Abstract

The article covers a comparative analysis of the instrumental capabilities of various communication media (television, printed and electronic newspapers and magazines, news portals, radio and social networks) on the formation of public opinion in the youth regional sub-socium. Empirical basis — the result of the author’s questionnaire survey of youth in the Republic of Mordovia. The choice of young people become an object of empirical research because of the fact that today it is at the intersection of information consumption from both traditional and fundamentally new means of communication media. The obtained data indicate that the level of influence of the CM in the structure of the regional youth sub-socium is differentiated. At the moment, the leading positions belong to television. After comparing the results with those of other authors, was made a conclusion about the gradual loss of the monopoly on controlling the flow of information from the traditional media. The observed convergence of media can be one of the factors shaping the the development of civil society institutions.