Social Media as Space for Peace Education: Conceptual Contours and Evidence from the Muslim World

In this research, we present a conceptual framework to examine the potential of social media as an educational space for peace education. In particular, we examine the characteristics and dynamics of social media that set it apart from other traditional media and educational spaces. Specifically, we conceptualize features of social media such as: social media as "knowledge commons"; imagined communities of purpose; public and private voice; civic engagement; and the experts' gaze. Finally, we provide empirical and discursive evidence from social media in the Muslim world with specific examples from the Pakistani blogosphere in support of the conceptual framework drawn earlier.