Participation is a key issue within Internet research and hence also for the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society. For this reason the institute hosted a thematically focused meeting on Chances and Risks of Social Participation in Berlin on 22 November 2013 in co-operation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. We had the possibility to ask Silvio Meira, professor at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, about his view on participation.