The Terminology (10 min)
Actions performed via the internet in support of a political or social cause but regarded as requiring little time or involvement.
Examples: Signing an online petition (without following up), changing a profile picture, sharing a meme.
When someone from a privileged group professes support for a marginalised group, but often does it to look good rather than to help.
Case Study: #BlackoutTuesday (15 min)
The Black Square (2020)
On 2 June 2020, about 28 million people posted a black square on Instagram for #BlackoutTuesday, in support of Black Lives Matter (source: NBC News / CNBC, June 2020) — and reporters at the time also documented the backlash: the squares flooded the very hashtags organisers were using to share information.
The Unintended Consequence: The flood of black squares actually hid important information because activists used the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag for safety updates, but the feed was clogged with empty black boxes.
🤔 Critical Thinking
Why might someone post a black square even if they don't do anything else to help?
Sustained Commitment: A Comparison with Care (10 min)
🔥 Ahikā is not a social-media slogan
Ahikā concerns ongoing occupation and relationship with whenua. It carries legal, historical, and whakapapa meanings and should not be flattened into Māori shorthand for “showing up consistently”. With a locally appropriate source, kaiako may use it as a careful comparison; otherwise use the plain-language idea sustained commitment.
Campaign test: A viral moment may create attention, but change normally requires repeated action, relationships, and accountability after the post disappears.
| Action | Is it sustained? | How to make it stronger? |
|---|---|---|
| Posting a hashtag | No (Fleeting) | Post the hashtag AND a link to a donation page or educational resource. |
| Sharing educational infographics | Maybe (Awareness) | Read the whole slide deck yourself first. Discuss it with whānau. |
| Organising a community meet-up via DM | Yes (Connection) | Ensure it happens regularly, not just once. |
Mahi: The Social Audit (20 min)
Use three teacher-provided, de-identified campaign posts, or posts ākonga independently choose without opening a personal account in class. Use the checklist:
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Pacing (55 min): The Terminology 10 · #BlackoutTuesday case study 15 · Sustained Commitment 10 · Social Audit mahi 20.
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will distinguish low-effort signalling from sustained action, apply pathos/logos/ethos to campaign posts, and judge effectiveness using evidence of what an audience actually did.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ I can identify the dominant rhetorical appeal in a campaign post and cite the feature that creates it.
- ✅ I can distinguish attention from evidence of sustained action.
- ✅ I can complete a social-audit card that names accuracy, representation, call to action, and likely impact.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Model one post using a four-column audit: claim, appeal, action requested, evidence of impact. Extension learners compare two posts from the same campaign.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach slacktivism, performative, sustained, pathos, logos, ethos, and call to action. Accept an annotated screenshot instead of a paragraph.
Inclusion: Personal accounts and feeds are never required. Provide de-identified examples and avoid forcing ākonga to disclose political beliefs or traumatic experiences.
Mātauranga Māori and tikanga boundary: Ahikā remains a relationship-to-whenua concept, not a grading label for online behaviour. Use local or authoritative sources if teaching the term; otherwise teach sustained commitment in plain language.
Prior knowledge: Best used after foundational social studies and civics concepts. Benefits from prior exposure to media literacy.
Curriculum alignment
This lesson supports audited English Phase 4 statement 90328 by making pathos, logos, and ethos an applied campaign-analysis tool. See the curriculum companion for the exact statement and provenance.