Syracuse University is launching the Center for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship in Washington, D.C., a joint effort of the Maxwell and Newhouse Schools that will promote nonpartisan, evidence-based research and dialogue in the public interest and support the work of faculty and students. Maxwell Dean David Van Slyke and Newhouse Dean Mark Lodato spoke with CNN about the center.

"Social media actually can create more interactions, but those interactions are actually a function of how weak the ties are in our own networks," says Van Slyke. "Where they become dangerous is when there's a lot of self-liberation and that's where we see some of this extremism coming from."

"This is part of what our Center for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship is designed to do, it is to get people going offline, to come together to actually have that kind of dialogue, but dialogue where we can actually talk about, here is the evidence, here are the facts. Let's talk about why you might not see that as evidence or why it may be more valid and reliable than you understand it to be," he says.

Watch the full interview via CNN.