Acushla Dee O’Carroll

Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Rangi, Te Āti Awa



"Dr Acushla Dee O’Carroll is a Senior Research Officer at AUT University. She recently completed her PhD Kanohi ki te kanohi – a thing of the past? An examination of Māori use of social networking sites and the implications for Māori culture and society. Dr O’Carroll’s research explores the tensions that Māori face as they negotiate virtual spaces and navigate new territories of social networks, highlighting the pressures on kanohi ki te kanohi practice (face to face). We ask if there can really be a virtual marae? and what are the implications of this on tuakiritanga (cultural identity) and tikanga (customary practices). What impacts are facebook and twitter having on indigenous ways of communicating? and should marae develop social media policies?

Dee was at Otago Polytechnic as part of the Ako Aoteroa funded National Project in Learners and mobile devices (#NPF14LMD): A framework for enhanced learning and institutional change."



Biographical sources

  • http://sustainablelens.org/?p=741 29 November 2016

    Non-fiction

  • "Virtual whanaungatanga. Māori utilising social networking sites to attain and maintain relationships." AlterNative Journal 9.3 (2013): 230-245.
  • "Flaunting it on Facebook: Young adults, drinking cultures and the cult of celebrity." Wellington, N.Z.: Massey University School of Psychology, 2014.
  • Co-authors Antonia Lyons, Tim McCreanor, Fiona Hutton, Ian Goodwin, Helen Moewaka Barnes, Christine Griffin, Vroman Kerryellen, Patricia Niland and Lina Samu.