The digitization of communication and the mediatization of society transform the
forms and types of relationships of parties of the communication process. Social
media as a new media environment has a great potential for managing opinions,
media consumer’s impressions and the formation of certain attitudes and
stereotypes. The question arises of formulating distinct criteria for assessing the
degree to which media affects certain social groups and society as a whole, as
well as the consequences of such an impact. The article analyzes the impact of
technical and technological and information-symbolic communication aspects on
the shaping ethno-cultural stereotypes. To identify sources of formation and
breaking down ethno-cultural stereotypes in 2017-2018, a research was conducted
based on the questionnaire online survey method in two stages on the territory of
two countries (Russia and the United Kingdom). At the first stage, students from
Russia and Great Britain were surveyed (N=454). At the second stage, young people
from Russia aged 18-24 were surveyed (N=1200). As a result, the main positive and
negative features were identified by representatives of two cultures in each other’s
perception. The sources of the formation of ethno-cultural auto- and heterostereotypes, as well as the tools for their breaking down, were identified.