Indigenous Peoples, Social Media, and the Digital Divide: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

This paper examines peer-reviewed publications studying the use of social media by Indigenous peoples in relation to the digital divide. Within the rubric of digital divide challenges that Indigenous peoples face in using social media, five themes were identified: (1) remote and rural location; (2) low socioeconomic status; (3) hardware and software; (4) digital content; and (5) age and culture. Moreover, Indigenous peoples primarily use social media with four objectives: (1) cyberactivism; (2) creating digital archives to preserve and promote their culture; (3) connecting and maintaining relationships with other peoples; and (4) accessing health education and virtual health-support groups.