This paper is based on ongoing research in the framework of a four-year Flemish (Belgium) inter-university
strategic research project called EMSOC (User Empowerment in a Social Media Culture). Between 2010 and
2014, an interdisciplinary research consortium of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (SMIT & LSTS), KULeuven (CUO & ICRI)
and Universiteit Gent (MICT & C&E) will investigate the empowering and disempowering role of social media on
the levels of inclusion, literacy and privacy. The EMSOC project is funded by IWT, the government agency for
Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders, Belgium.