ABSTRACT
Social media users play a fundamental role in reporting social issues and political conflict within the digital public sphere, particularly at times when journalists do not have access to events on the ground. This chapter discusses how social media users have, therefore, become equipped with the digital media literacy required to become active participants in political reporting and social change within the digital public sphere. It describes about several areas pertaining to digital literacy and its potential to enable social media users to engage in social and political participation. The chapter shows how social media users are learning to emulate professional journalistic practice. It focuses on the limitations of social media through the case study of the Facebook page The Uprising of Women in the Arab World (UWAW). The chapter outlines the power struggle facing social media users in their pursuit of creating an active culture of participation and change.
