Disillusioned with social media, a pair of American tech entrepreneurs decided to launch an app that encourages people to interact in real life. Co-founder and epidemiologist Jesse Berns explains why that meant making an unexpected shift to Aotearoa. While Covid-19 forced most businesses to change their plans one way or another, few seem to have … Read more
Why are there so many offensive comments on the New Zealand Police Facebook page and are they breaking the law? Janaye Henry investigates. New Zealand Police Facebook pages – there are a number of them, for different regional police districts around the country – are an interesting place to spend an hour or two. They … Read more
How does one turn into a rabid extremist over the description of a children’s bike? Emily Writes looks at Facebook comments so you don’t have to. You’ve been there, I know it. You’re scrolling along, trying to avoid QAnon conspiracy theories and Trump apocalypse memes when a story catches your eye. You scan the headline, … Read more
In recent years social media has helped give a voice to survivors of abuse, often denied them by the justice system. But group mentalities are fickle, and the best intentions can sometimes perpetuate more harm. Jogai Bhatt looks back at a fraught year of social media justice. Warning: includes images of swastikas and other far … Read more
Another week, another scandal hits a lowly ex-reality TV idiot. But what of those who rush in to defend Pete Evans, and people like him? Emily Writes outlines the tried and true formula. Welcome to the first ever guide to defending D-grade celebrities who share Nazi imagery online. Before we start, you might be wondering … Read more
Why the news media will miss the Trump presidency – and how the New Zealand leader’s use of social media bears a passing resemblance to Trump’s. Many journalists and the companies that employ them are going to miss President Donald Trump more than they realise. The Trump news tornado has arguably saved some of the … Read more
A new social media platform that keeps censorship to a bare minimum has taken off in the wake of Donald Trump’s election loss. So what is this thing? You’ve quite possibly never heard of Parler, the new app taking the free speech world by storm. But in the United States it’s top of the app … Read more
Which side spent more and why? Jihee Junn crunches the numbers and finds a few misleading claims along the way. Ahead of election day, a handful of interest groups took to Facebook and Google to lobby for their respective views on the assisted dying and cannabis referendums. In the end, New Zealanders voted decisively for … Read more
After receiving a damning screen-time report, Alice Webb-Liddall gave up on social media for two weeks and discovered more than just a few more hours in her day. I was home sick from work two weeks ago when I encountered a shameful problem I didn’t realise I had. Swiping right on my home screen, I … Read more
Out of an office on Queen Street, the film buffs’ social network Letterboxd has thrown the rules out the window, attracting a young, progressive global base of users redefining what ‘good’ and ‘bad’ film is. New Zealand’s back in level one, and cinemas are back in action. Ish. Productions around the globe have locked down … Read more
‘Silence is complicity’, they say. But what do you do when speaking up could irreparably damage the relationships you value most? It was the Facebook post that did it. I normally don’t go there, at least on that social media platform. I go on Facebook for fun, and to keep connections warm. Going political sours … Read more
Facebook has announced a ban on the conspiracy network QAnon from its platforms. What is Q, and why does Mark Zuckerberg want him gone? We explain. What is QAnon? QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theorist group focused around the idea that Satanic cabal is torturing children and attempting to create a new world order. People … Read more
Netflix’s new ‘must-see’ documentary is an alarming watch, but a bunch of woke tech bros commodifying fear is not enough to impress Anna Rawhiti-Connell. The Social Dilemma, Netflix’s latest “must see” documentary, opens with a line-up of gulping, nervous white men (and one or two women), who are asked to try to articulate “the problem” … Read more
A New Zealand Instagram account has gone global with its simple, attention-grabbing coverage of international politics and social issues. Sherry Zhang talks to the founders of Shit You Should Care About about social media’s evolving role as a news source. No longer solely the realm of brunch pics, filtered selfies and cute pet photos, Instagram … Read more
The Social Dilemma includes a clip from the shooter’s live-streamed Facebook video showing him preparing to enter one of the Christchurch mosques. A warning has been added to a new Netflix documentary-drama for featuring a banned excerpt from the video filmed by the Christchurch terrorist. The Social Dilemma, which explores the rise of social media … Read more
It’s likely you’re being exposed to masses of Covid information on a daily basis, and not all of it will be reliable. Here are some tips for telling the difference, and stopping the spread. Thanks to Covid-19, most of us have a new word in our vocabulary. Epidemiology: the branch of medical science that deals … Read more
Stewart Sowman-Lund talks to the anonymous, ideologically opposed creators of two Facebook meme pages about the role the Gen Z mainstay plays in our political landscape. In total, almost 70,000 people “like” the two biggest New Zealand political meme pages on Facebook. Out of the entire “team of five million”, that’s not a lot. However, … Read more
If you love The Spinoff and have a vision for how it should appear on Instagram and TikTok, we want to hear from you. The Spinoff is looking for a social media specialist with a focus on Instagram and TikTok. This is a full-time position with a fixed term three-month contract attached, working from our … Read more
The racist and untrue rumour about the source of the latest Covid-19 outbreak in New Zealand began life as a much less inflammatory post on Reddit. It was deleted after a few hours, but the damage was done. Here, the man who started the rumour speaks for the first time. Last week, when a cluster … Read more
Because no one is as happy as Simon Bridges with a baby yak. Video by José Barbosa. For a very long time, human beings have been striving to answer a simple, vexing question: how can I be happy? From Plato’s moral gateways to Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness, the search goes on. Some look for happiness through … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Rob Teina from Supreme Plumbing. Social media has become an important tool for all small businesses to get … Read more
Facebook has unveiled tougher rules to control political content posted on its main platform and Instagram in the months before the September election, reports Justin Giovannetti. As of next month only New Zealanders who have provided Facebook with a form of government-issued identification will be able to post ads that make references to political figures, … Read more
In a world where players have unfettered access to fans through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, it raises the question of whether traditional media still has a role to play. But as Scotty Stevenson explains, a player-driven model powered by social media can only go so far. Among the many weird and wonderful tales of the … Read more
The first days of national lockdown have truly brought out the best in our social media stars. Alex Casey counts down the classics. Yesterday I got served with the Instagram notification that normally only pops up around Christmas-time. “You’re all caught up!” it chirped, “you’ve seen every post from the last three days!” The message … Read more
Rongotea has created a pandemic support network with not much more than a cellphone, an email address and goodwill. Liam Hehir explains how it works, and gives instructions on starting your own. I live in Rongotea, a small village in the Palmerston North commuter belt. Its people are a mix of professionals working in town, … Read more
An Auckland dad is offering good money to someone who can teach his daughter the basics of being a YouTuber. Vlogging has boomed in popularity among young people in recent years as a potential career path, but how achievable is it, and is it safe? Sandeep Khurana is a busy dad. He works in real … Read more
Alex Casey counts down more of The Mad Butcher’s maddest Insta-breakfasts, with bonus commentary from The Butch himself. We live in very uncertain times. We don’t know what the future of our planet looks like, we don’t know if Minou and Jay-Jay will ever see each other again and we can’t even be sure that … Read more
In politics the worst ideas and most deceitful statements are often the most amplified, and therefore the most successful, writes Danyl Mclauchlan. Back in early 2016, as the UK hurtled towards the Brexit referendum, Dominic Cummings, the director of the Vote Leave campaign – now special adviser to Boris Johnson and one of the architects … Read more
It’s been a Sunday morning staple for Kiwi kids for decades, but What Now may be facing new challenges in the era of social media. New Zealand children’s show What Now has utilised many different ways of engaging with its young audience over the past 38 years. Whether it was getting kids to write in … Read more