Horis, neffs and aunties: Social media, language and identity for young Mãori in Australia

With more than 140,000 ‘Mozzies’ (Māori Aussies) living in Australia, people of Māori ancestry constitute Australia’s largest Polynesian ethnic group. One in six of all Māori leave New Zealand (Aotearoa) indefinitely to live and work in Australia. Māori who make this journey encounter difficulties in maintaining cultural traditions, missing extended family (whanau), feelings of difference with both the general population of Australia and Māori back at home, and a variation of expectations of returning home. Many of these issues are expressed in the New Zealand television series The GC (2012) – a Jersey-shore type docu-drama covering the lives of several young Māori based on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. A closer analysis of the members of The GC highlights the diversity of life experiences and cultural understanding amongst them, with agreement not even reached on their self-definition as Mozzies. Similarly, the social media language of young Māori in Australia, when deconstructed, provides a veritable melting-pot of ‘flavours’ and influences. I argue that young Māori Australians provide an important view into the Mozzie experience as they are a large part of the Mozzie population in Australia. Furthermore, they are more likely to experience and question elements of belonging and identity in relation to their Māoritanga/culture in the context of an Australian upbringing. Based on a survey of twelve Mozzie participants, I found that Māori language use in social media among them incorporated a mix of English, Māori te reo/Māori language), text-speak and slang, which reflected a similar hybridization of language to that adopted by the young Māori Australian actors on The GC. The aim of this article is to examine this social media language and explore the cultural, generational, technological and social factors influencing its organic growth amongst users. I suggest that this social media language is revealing of the range of experiences of young Māori in Australia – expressing their attempts to maintain close links with Māori culture (Māoritanga) and whanau from home, while also establishing a hybridized identity in Australia.