Social Network Sites

This study is focused on examining the potentials of the internet in fostering participatory social action. Over the years different participatory processes have been employed by practitioners to empower communities with the ability to take decisions and act for themselves in order to effect social change and attain their own development. Methods such as Participatory Learning and Action (PLA), Theatre for Development (TFD) and the like seek to get people actively involved in its process as a catalyst to reach true and sustainable development. However with the astronomical growth in the usage of the internet, especially Social Network Sites, and its consequent capacity to facilitate connectivity between numerous individuals across distant boundaries, this study therefore looks at the potential of Social Network Sites as a communication medium with the ability to enable people s participation in the deliberative processes through which mutual agreement towards sustainable development could be attained. Using six discussion topics from two groups on facebook as a case study, this study demonstrates the inherent capacity of Social Network Sites in fostering participatory communicative