MEDIA LITERACY AND PARTICIPATORY CULTURE IN THE ARAB WORLD: AN EXAMINATION OF FACEBOOK USE

AMONG TUNISIAN YOUTH

By Ikram Toumi

INTRODUCTION

Purpose: - Media literacies among Tunisian youth- Patterns of Facebook use of Tunisian youth- Traits of participatory culture in Tunisian

internet use.

Significance- Understanding social media skills of Tunisian

youth- Facebook use in less studied cultural context. - Close cultural observation of the extend of the

digital divide.

LITERATURE

1- Patterns of Facebook use: - To manage social network Maintain existing relationships Resurrecting past relationships. - Engaging in online self-presentation(Ellison, 2007)

- Social surveillance - Communicating views, attitudes, personal products, etc. - Sharing identities finding networks of likeminded people and engaging in

joined activities. (Joinson, 2008) - Entertainment- (Valenzuela et al, 2008)

LITERATURE REVIEW

Connection between Facebook use and social capital

Creating, maintaining and expanding a network of weak and strong ties (Ellison, 2007, Acquisti & Gross, 2006)

Facebook use positively correlates with social trust, civic participation, and political engagement (Valenzuela et al, 2008)

The higher the “intensity of use” the higher is the degree of participation.

LITERATURE REVIEW Participatory culture (Jenkins, 2006)- artistic expression- civic engagement- strong support for creating and sharing one’s

creations- transfer of knowledge

A digital divide measure (Chen and Wellman, 2004) Media literacies and social skills (Jenkins, 2006)

Media literacies (Livingstone, 2004) - “The ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create

messages in a variety of forms” (p. 5)

LITERATURE REVIEW Facebook in the Arab world Social networking sites (SNS) as source of

empowerment and inclusion (Bakkar, 2008) Internet and SNS redefined communication in the

Arab world.

Shen and Khalifa study, 2009- Facebook as a space for self exploration and

identity construction - Highly integrated in the respondents’ daily life- More significant in the lives of females than males

Facebook and other SNS are playing a transformative role in the Arab world

DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Facebook use depends on the users interaction to achieve full potential of the system (Lampe et al, 2008)

Lack of research on patterns of participatory culture in Facebook

Focus on developed countries, especially the United States (Shen and Shakir, 2009)

More research in less advantaged countries to further understand the digital divide.

Limited research on the relationship between the culture and SNS use.

The need to understand the social and cultural context

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

How do Tunisians youth use Facebook?

RQ1- What do Tunisian youth do on Facebook to maintain their social networks?

RQ2- What kinds of activities do Tunisian youth do on Facebook?

Are there traits of participatory culture in Tunisians use of Facebook?

RQ3- Do Tunisian youth users post and share products of their own creation on Facebook?

RQ4- Do Tunisian Facebook users post analysis or responses to mainstream media content?

RQ5- Do Tunisian Facebook users engage in group creation of content?

METHODOLOGY

Instrument: Web survey

Population: Tunisian youth and adults18-35 years old

Sampling: Snowball technique

Process: distribution of the survey link through networks of friends

OPERATIONALIZATION

1- Patterns of use: - Managing social networks: people searching and browsing,

commenting on friends’ contents, and responding to messages.

- Activities: status update, sharing and forwarding content created by others or from the media, posting pictures and photographs, and playing games.

2- Participatory culture: - Self-created content: art work, slideshows about an issue, a

cause, an event, etc

- Responses to media content: independently written articles or blog entries, analyses, critique, etc.

- Group content creation: activities users engage in with likeminded people to support a cause, respond to media content, or as a response to social issues or problems.