This study aims at examining how the social media, particularly the Facebook has been servingrnas an alternative forum for discussing politics in Ethiopia. The study was situated within therntheoretical framework of Habermas public sphere.rnThe study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. For the qualitative method, datarngathering tools such as interview, observation, and text of Facebook postings were used.rnInterviews were conducted with sixteen activists, bloggers, journalists and politicians selectedrnthrough convenience and snowball sampling methods. The data was collected from mid July tornSeptember 2012. For quantitative method, survey was used as a data gathering tool. The surveyrnquestionnaire was administered to 103 people selected through random sampling technique.rnDescriptive statistics was employed to analyze the quantitative data.rnThe analysis of the data reveals that the social media in general and Facebook in particular isrnproviding an alternative platform for those who have access to freely discuss political issues thatrnwould otherwise be off the limit in the conventional public sphere in the Ethiopian context. Whatrnis more, Faceook is even serving as a source for the mainstream media for political news andrnthere by challenging the conventional role reserved for mainstream journalism. This being therncase, however, Facebook use is facing challenges which could be classified into user-relatedrnchallenges and government-related challenges. Based on the findings, some recommendationsrnare suggested.