Facebook and other social media tools are helping Maori re-connect to their cultural roots.

A Victoria University researcher has looked into what she calls the 'Facebook Tribe' - a virtual iwi of Maori spread across the globe.

Pikihuia Reihana says Maori are making fewer trips back to the marae, so she wanted to find out if social networks are enhancing or undermining traditional whakapapa.

She says it's certainly changing the way culture is passed on.

"Traditionally Whakapapa was passed down through oral forms, but we're changing the way that we do that now. It's not just passed down from the eldest in a generation."