Message stick intersects western science : understanding experiences of networking interactions, using social media, from within rural and remote Aboriginal Australia

This paper presents the early findings, observations and lessons learned through storywork with an Aboriginal community in very remote New South Wales led by the community alongside a Ngemba Wiradjuri researcher.This research is driven by the continuing displacement of so many of our people relocating from Country for many reasons including continuing stolen generations, Government’s rezoning of land to nature corridors causing significant unemployment, and also to access education. Despite research that asserts our youth go to higher education with the intention of returning to contribute to community, the reality, is that we don’t necessarily return. While the result is that youth are being educated, community populations are declining and skills within community are becoming less aligned with the fast growing business world of technology. In contrast, grass roots community members recognise many opportunities, for on the ground sustainable business initiatives, and many committed grass roots community members. At the time of this research, some of whom are educated in today’s IT enabled economic world, but mostly, not. With the uptake in use of social media such as Facebook, MySpace, DivaChat, YouTube and Skype, to connect up and share photos and yarns in this space, this research may facilitate a way to enhance capacity, and contribute to business initiatives, and perhaps contribute, to a way forward, for sustaining our Community. The scope is limited to identifying a space within social media that connects relocated and collocated community members to bring home, additional skills required, for the fast growing, technology enabled, business world. While this research addresses community concerns for our Community, it may have implications in a broader context – but primarily, this research is about bringing change to our community. A preliminary review of existing literature revealed a gap in knowledge about how social media might facilitate formation of communities of practice by focusing on the relationship between, the information system, and community members, in a cultural context. The aim, is to better understand networking experiences, within social media, that deliberately enable, cultural and social relationships, to evolve and expand knowledge sharing, forming ‘communities of practice’. It is these Communities of practice that may have the potential to enhance capacity building. This research draws from research into knowledge sharing within Communities of practice but a gap has been identified in existing research by the limitation specifically about, rural and remote, and particularly from an Aboriginal position