Disconnect

Research background: Disconnect is a podcast that asks "how is the internet being shaped by the world’s oldest living culture?". The series emerged in 2019 from academic research at RMIT University on digital inclusion within the field of media and communication. The research methods involve ethnographic investigation and Indigenous perspectives to show the ingenuity that resides in communities, and how platforms impose their own ways of governing with sometimes harmful outcomes.To date, we have released nine high quality, documentary-style episodes featuring multiple voices, many of them from remote communities. Research contribution: The Disconnect podcast reveals the complexities of internet use in remote communities. Episodes cover themes such as: representation (such as attempts to have Aboriginal designs incorporated into the emoji keyboard); online scams and their interaction within a demand sharing economy; and the relationship between conspiracy theories and the traumas of colonialism. Each episode is constructed using interviews and scripting (by Ellie Rennie), combined with discussion of the key insights by the hosts, Ellie Rennie and Tyson Yunkaporta. Research significance: The podcast contains original insights into people's use of the internet in remote areas and their infrastructural needs. The audio format was chosen in order to give voice to research participants. Disconnect is produced in collaboration with the inDigiMob project (part of First Nations Media Australia), and has been funded by Telstra. The podcast was a finalist in the 2021 Australian Podcast Awards for the BullsEye category, which recognises audio for underrepresented audiences. Episodes 1-4 were also published on Indigitube, an online platform for First Nations content, hosted by First Nations Media Australia.