Navigating the Social Media Space for Māori and Indigenous Communities

A Kaupapa Māori Approach

This analysis is underpinned by a Kaupapa Māori methodological approach that draws from a Māori knowledge base and lived experiences. Kaupapa Māori promotes the validity of Māori language, knowledge and culture (Pihama, 2001). Kaupapa Māori supports Māori academics to carry out research in ways that embrace the values and principles of our whānau, hapū and iwi (L. Smith, 2003). Linda Smith (2003) asserts that Kaupapa Māori research comes from a local Indigenous theoretical position; a philosophy that encompasses a Māori worldview including spiritual, cultural and political dimensions. The Kaupapa Māori methodological approach enables Māori academics to participate in research that draws from ontological worldviews, and embraces Māori tikanga and values (L. Smith, 2003).

Kaupapa Māori also provides a theoretical and political tool as a basis for Indigenous researchers to work as change agents and to engage in research that is transformative for Indigenous people (G. Smith, 2003). Linda Smith (2003) believes that recognizing the injustices of colonization and thinking about ways that we can resist and challenge colonial ideologies is the first step to decolonization. She argues that while there is often an illusion that colonization is no longer practiced, there are still “new forms of colonization” which have been reformed in more subtle ways and, “many of these formations are insidious, and many of them have yet to be fully explored” (L. Smith, 2003, p. 215). Social media can be considered as one of these forms that often appear neutral, a-cultural and decolonized.