Indigenous Australians Predisposed To Facebook

Indigenous Australians Predisposed To Facebook
Megan Staal
By Megan Staal



Indigenous Australians are significantly more predisposed to Facebook than the overall population, a recent survey conducted by McNair Ingenuity Research has revealed.

Six-in-ten adult Indigenous Australians use Facebook on a daily basis, compared to 42% of adult Australians nationally.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders living in metropolitan areas of the capital cities are the biggest Facebook users at 68%. In regional towns, the figures are slightly less at 61%.  In remote communities where home computer ownership is low and ADSL Internet can be unavailable, Indigenous Facebook usage in is at 44%, slightly above the national average.

“Indigenous Australians living in remote areas are having a completely different experience of social networks and the Internet than mainstream Australia,” said lead researcher on the survey, Matt Balogh.

“Apart from at school or work, nearly all their Internet contact is on a pre-paid smartphone or tablet,” he said.

According to Balogh this is similar to other rapidly changing societies around the world, such as Asia and Africa, where involvement with the Internet has been almost exclusively through mobile smart devices, due to ease of access and affordability.

Response to the results were not all positive. While Associate Professor Ellie Rennie, Deputy Director of the Swinburne Institute for Social Research, agreed with the findings, she also raised concerns.

“Life in remote communities is still largely organised around kinship ties. The popularity of Facebook is unsurprising, in that it enables people to create an online network and to communicate with ‘family’, which may be dispersed across different communities and towns,” she said.

“However, senior women in Indigenous communities have told us that they are concerned about Facebook undermining traditional authority relations, since feuds can spread rapidly before elders can intervene.”

The McNair Ingenuity Research Indigenous survey is an ongoing study – in its fifth year, conducted on behalf of various Federal Government agencies and Corporations, as well as some Indigenous media organisations.




Please login with linkedin to comment

Chief Executive Officer Online ads Round Table

Latest News

Scroll Media Recruits Costa Panagos From Twitch
  • Advertising

Scroll Media Recruits Costa Panagos From Twitch

Digital publisher network Scroll Media has employed ex-Amazon Twitch gaming executive Costa Panagos (lead image) to strengthen its Scroll Gaming capability. Panagos is highly experienced in game advertising and media sales professional with two years in account management at Twitch and three years in media sales at News Corp, so will bring his extensive media agency […]

Year13, Microsoft & KPMG Australia Launch AI Course For Gen Zs
  • Technology

Year13, Microsoft & KPMG Australia Launch AI Course For Gen Zs

School-leaver service Year13 has launched a new Artificial Intelligence course to upskill young people in AI, made in collaboration with Microsoft and KPMG, at an event to rally industry support behind youth AI fluency. The free online course AI Amplified which is part of Year13’s Academy aims to provide all young people with the opportunity […]

General Motors Snares Heath Walker From Scania
  • Advertising

General Motors Snares Heath Walker From Scania

General Motors has announced the appointment of Heath Walker (lead image) as the new marketing director for GM Australia and New Zealand, effective April 23, 2024. Walker brings a wealth of marketing and communications experience gained from working across various industries, including IT, sporting, and auto – notably Tesla, Nissan and most recently, Scania in […]