Alex Casey spends a night at the New Zealand Social Media Awards, and meets both the influencers at the top of the food chain, and those trying desperately to climb the ladder. Joel Thomas took the photos. A sales rep for Mitsubishi Electric specialising in heat pumps and refrigeration, Tama was proudly sporting a t-shirt … Read more
Whether they’re sharing beauty tutorials or performing pratfalls for the camera, social media influencers tend to have one thing in common: they want us to buy things. In a video collaboration between Frame News, Wrestler and The Spinoff, we look at influencers, and the powerful marketing industry behind them. Almost as soon as we had … Read more
Josie & T are best friends, Auckland University students, and rising social media stars who’re unafraid to speak out on social issues. Their latest video goes in on and straight at ‘blackface’ Youtuber Jimi Jackson. Zaskiya Lesa talked to Josie & T about why they’re happy to be outspoken. Online video star Jimi Jackson is no stranger … Read more
Every month host Alex Casey is joined by comedian/writer Michele A’Court and Mana magazine editor Leonie Hayden to discuss what happened in the world of women over the preceding four weeks. Fresh from the Auckland Women’s March, they return this year with help from their legendary sponsors at BON tampons. With a much-needed glass of bubbles, and in the safe bunker … Read more
When a brown-skinned man darkens his face and jokes about being black, that’s colourism – the belief that people with dark skin are inherently inferior to those with lighter skin – in action, writes Miriama Aoake. This is an edited version of a post which first appeared on Medium.com. Last week Jimi Jackson (Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi), … Read more
New Zealand woke up to the presence of a huge new internet celebrity this week thanks to the controversy around Jimi Jackson’s ‘blackface’ imagery. But a gross reply to a woman who commented on the image suggests his attitude to women is disastrous too, says Alex Casey. Who would have thought it would only be … Read more