The Invisible Editor
Every time you open TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, you aren't seeing "the world". You are seeing a tiny slice of it, curated by a mathematical formula (an Algorithm).
π― The Goal of the Algorithm
The algorithm has one job: To keep you on the app for as long as possible.
It doesn't care if the content is true, helpful, or kind. It only cares if it is engaging.
The Engagement Trap
(It makes you angry/scared)
(Comment, Share, or just Watch longer)
"Show them more of this!"
Result: high-arousal content can be amplified because it drives attention. Treat that as a claim to test, not a universal law.
Key Concepts
𫧠The Filter Bubble
When the algorithm only shows you opinions you already agree with. You start to think everyone thinks like you.
π³οΈ The Rabbit Hole
When you click one video on a topic (e.g., "Earth is flat?") and the app keeps serving you more increasingly extreme videos.
Te Ao MΔori: Kaitiakitanga o te Hinengaro
π‘οΈ Guardianship of the Mind
Kaitiakitanga usually refers to guarding the land. But we must also be kaitiaki (guardians) of our own hinengaro (mind) and wairua (spirit).
If the algorithm is feeding you "junk food" (hate, fear, fake news), you have the right to protect your space.
- Curate: Unfollow accounts that make you feel whack.
- Diversify: Deliberately follow people who disagree with you (respectfully).
- Disconnect: Put the phone down to reconnect with the physical world (Taiao).
Mahi: Audit Your Feed
Open your favourite social app right now. Look at the first 5 posts.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students examine how digital technologies and social media are used as tools of activism — exploring power, participation, and the hΔ«koi tradition of Māori resistance to understand how communities organise for change in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Can analyse how digital tools amplify or suppress activist voices, applying a tino rangatiratanga lens
- ✅ Identifies algorithmic bias and explains its impact on Māori, Pasifika, and marginalised communities
- ✅ Designs or evaluates a digital campaign using tikanga principles of manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Use familiar social media examples as an entry point; provide a structured campaign analysis template. Extension tasks include researching Te Mana Raraunga, analysing algorithmic amplification data, or designing a full digital activism strategy.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach vocabulary (activism, algorithm, participation, sovereignty) with visual examples; use real NZ case studies to ground abstract concepts in accessible contexts.
Inclusion: Offer multiple formats for campaign design (visual, written, oral pitch); neurodiverse learners benefit from clear step-by-step planning frameworks and structured peer feedback protocols.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Hīkoi as the embodied tradition of collective action — digital activism as its contemporary form. Tikanga in digital spaces: protocols for respectful online engagement. Tino rangatiratanga frames the right to self-determined participation. Kaitiakitanga extends to protecting whānau and community data online.
Prior knowledge: Basic social media literacy; awareness of New Zealand social and political issues.
Curriculum alignment
- Digital Technologies — Level 4: Understand how digital technologies are used to create and share information, and the social implications of their use.
- Social Sciences — Level 4: Understand how people participate individually and collectively in response to community challenges.