For many in the Pacific diaspora community, Facebook is the place to go for news from overseas. Photo / Stock
For many in the Pacific diaspora community, Facebook is the place to go for news from overseas. Photo / Stock
When news broke of fake Facebook pages being set up to scam people into paying to watch the funeral of MP Fa’anānā Efeso Collins, some may have wondered how anyone could be fooled by the sometimes very obvious scam.
The scammers were no doubt targeting the vulnerable - those who may not have a solid grasp of Facebook, social media in general or even the internet.
Many of those tricked into accepting those fake Facebook livestream friend requests - and then handing over bank account details to pay to watch the (fake) livestream - were from our Pasifika community.
And many of those people were our mamas and papas, who still need a hand now and again when using their cell phones - something the scammers know.
For our Pacific parents, grandparents and many within our communities, Facebook is not just a social media platform. It’s not just a place to share a random status that comes to mind.
How Covid lockdowns changed how Pasifika view and use Facebook
It is a news platform, an information hub and a space they can connect with friends and family from around New Zealand and back home in the islands.
Facebook was forever changed and became elevated during the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that started in 2020, when international borders shut and news from the motherlands of Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, Tuvalu and so forth could be found more quickly via Facebook.
L-R: FAST party leaders Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, La'aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Schmidt and Tuala Tevaga Iosefo Ponifasio pictured in 2021. Photo / Aufai Areta Areta, Samoa Observer
Covid changed the game for Facebook in that sense - for Pasifika communities, at least.
That year, a top politician in Samoa broke away from the then Government and formed a new political party. When election time arrived that same year, they did something that had never been seen in a Samoan election - or any Pacific election, for that matter - before. They took their campaign to Facebook.
In particular, they used the Facebook Live feature to show off their campaign trail; going live at every event at every village, school, market or family they visited. (Samoa was still enjoying a Covid-free society, at the time).
It became a huge deal for locals to see themselves on “the live” - almost the equivalent of appearing on TV. That political party, FAST, would go on to win that election.
These days, it is not unusual to attend a Samoan or Tongan wedding, funeral, birthday or other special or significant event and see several aunties whipping out their phones going live on Facebook - even if there is an official professional livestream being done.
The practice goes a little too far in the motherlands, however, where it is very normal to see a Facebook live pop-up of a family crying over the body of a loved one who has just died - effectively breaking the news live to unsuspecting family members (and strangers) browsing through Facebook.
It is a reminder that the world continues to evolve at a rapid pace. But it is also a timely reminder of the real world and the need to check in with older relatives about Facebook and the very real (and sometimes expensive) consequences of the internet.
