Reterritorialising Social Media: Indigenous People Rise Up

Social media is transforming the way Indigenous peoples interact and connect with each other at a local, regional, national and global level. Facebook and other social media facilitate this interaction and allow users to maintain relationships across vast distances and time zones, thereby increasing social and political connectivity and impact (Carlson 2013). Indeed, social media users transcend time and space, yet they produce content, set up links and connect communities of practice. There is now a constantly networked world in every dimension of human experience. Social movements, like every other aspect of life, are becoming increasingly reliant on online networking and information sharing. Researchers are beginning to examine the use of social media for political communication and social movements (Carlson & Frazer 2016). Generally, however, such research has focused on movements that have received attention from mainstream media, (such as the #OccupyWallStreet movement for example) whereas Indigenous activism, does not always receive such attention.