Did you know that there are approximately 4.66 billion active internet users worldwide? Can you imagine all the different ways in which we all use the internet? Obasanjo’s Internet is our interview series where we speak to some of our internet favourites on how they relate to the internet and what it means to them and their work. This week, Anjola Awosika, Creative Director at Ata Rodo Media, talks to us about how he uses Obasanjo’s Internet.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
I say a short prayer then I check my notifications.
How do you use the internet for work or pleasure?
Mostly for work, but for pleasure as well. A lot of my work is shared on the internet. I have a website and an Instagram account that I use to promote my work and brand. For leisure, I just watch a lot of video content, YouTube, read articles.
What moment or episode in your life would you say captured the essence of the internet?
I think this was in 2020 during the lockdown and I was trying to figure out what my next steps would be. One of the things that really kept me going was researching things online because you couldn’t have one on one interactions with people, right? You could make zoom calls, join master classes online, buy courses, study online, that kind of thing. So there was a lot of online consumption for me and that just literally shifted how my life is at the moment, in fact. Yeah, so lots of things like training, personal development, that kind of thing.
Your favourite social media platform and why?
Right now I really enjoy YouTube. It is a very interesting platform. There’s a wide range of content you can watch, though the production quality is not as put together as if you’re watching a movie on Netflix and all of that. It’s a very casual place where you can just watch different things. I would usually watch food videos, interior design videos, and architectural videos. I watch a lot of Architectural Digest, New York Times cooking, Bon Apetit, Vogue, and even personal blogs. I have creators who I also subscribe to and just catch up with what they’re doing and I usually do so when I’m bored or uninterested in doing anything that particular day. It just fills me up most of the time.
What was the last meme you saved?
I don’t think I have one. I’m not really into memes like that.
Do you remember the first time something you posted went viral? What was it? How did it make you feel?
I reacted to a post that Opeyemi Famakin had on his Instagram about chefs. He was trying to compare the different roles in food content creation and just in food generally. So his caption was, “Let’s not lie, the buchi mix chefs are giving us content back and are almost more creative than the chefs who went to culinary school. I mean, they have more misses than hits, but they take more chances with different ingredients and spices. chefs who went to culinary school don’t know more than zobo, yaji and jollof when it comes to ‘creativity’. it’s the same old, this is how we were taught, this is how we will do it, anything else is beneath me”
So yeah, that kind of triggered me and then I put up a post on my Instagram reacting to that. It got a lot of people talking mostly in my DMs and people were screenshotting my post and posting it on their Instagram stories.
What rules do you live by on the internet?
A lot of observation, a lot of minding my business, don’t react for reacting sake. Also if it’s a subject that you don’t really know much about, don’t even open your mouth and say anything. I find that lots of people are not educated enough so they just say things without even reading the tweets or Instagram posts.
Always go where the gist is. If it’s gist, I swear to God I’ll be there. That babe on Twitter that fell into a love scam and the guy scammed her of thousands of pounds and Blanco helped her recover the money? I was there from 12 noon to 9 p.m. I was on the Twitter space and even when somebody else created a new space, I was shuffling from one to the other. The useless guy that started the space started insulting the babe and saying all sorts of things about her. He was just inviting people to talk badly about her, like “how did she meet the guy?” Anyway, somebody now opened a new space and they were trying to help her find a solution. That gist was sweet. You just had to be there.
So always find the gist and be there from the beginning. If you’re not there from the beginning, do a bit of research. If it’s on Twitter, try to find the source. For people that have the tendency to lock their accounts, when you see that the gist is hot, just follow them for that period so you’re not locked out of the tea, then when everything comes down you can now unfollow the person.
What is your guiltiest online pleasure?
A lot of people don’t know this, but I consume a lot of royal content on TikTok. Many things are going on in the royal family – because they are mad in that family. I follow a few royal commentators that know their shit. I also watch all these medical videos of people doing minor surgeries or popping stuff.
Would you say you have an online persona?
I don’t think I do. I think I’m just an observer. I’m not as chaotic as a lot of people are. I follow some people on Twitter and any small thing like this, they’ve already dropped a thread – like ki lo de. You always have something to say. My own is just to look for the tea.
What’s your favorite emoji and why?
I don’t know if I have a favorite emoji but the ones I mostly use are the celebration emoji with a party hat and horn then I also use the popped champagne bottle. I use that a lot. I also laugh a lot so I’m mostly just adding the laughing emoji.
Are you particular about your feed?
Yes, I am. I’m not particular to the tee but I just like things to look good and organized. I know some people try to curate their Instagram posts; one side is dedicated to humans, other side, flowers, water, etc but I’m not that detailed. I just like organization so I can follow color themes, shapes, and sizes. If I want to make a post, I can look through my Instagram page and use the first five posts to inform what I post.
YouTube or TikTok? Which do you prefer and why?
I think I’ll prefer YouTube. The thing about TikTok is it has no control over the kind of things that you see, especially on your for you page. I know there is the part where they say, “oh you can follow whoever you want to follow and keep up with their content” but I find that TikTok just keeps bringing old content to your page and it can be very worrying.
I enjoy YouTube more because it is very controlled, you can decide to watch this channel, you can decide not to watch that channel. You can decide to just watch a video that pops up, that kind of thing. And I think YouTube’s algorithm is more accurate than TikTok.
On TikTok I noticed that if you open your FYP and you interact with a creator’s content, the next 3/4 posts would come from that same creator – which is good in a way because you don’t have to follow the creator before you can see the creator’s content. I don’t know if that’s good for the creator, but like for me that’s consuming the creator’s content, that’s fine, right? But then on YouTube, I refresh my page, whatever creator I watch frequently will be the first five or six pieces of content that I’m going to see. So all I just need to do is open a new tab to watch those contents.
Which Nigerian creator do you think the world needs to see and hear more of?
I just started catching up with Nedu Johnson. He does fashion and lifestyle content and I find it very interesting. His fashion is very calm, casual type content. He’s not as active on YouTube but his content has a lot of Lagos living in there and it’s just very different. It’s not packaged Lagos living, you know what I mean? For somebody who lives in Lagos and knows the ins and outs of Lagos, it’s refreshing to see a different perspective.
Andrew and Tosin too. They’re queer creators based in London. The world needs to see more of them as well.
Who is the coolest person you follow and the coolest person who follows you?
I haven’t thought about that but Obida is the coolest person I follow. I think he’s super cool.
What is your favourite Nigerian podcast?
Submaroach and I Said What I Said.
Have you ever hooked up with someone you met online? Did you regret it?
Yes, I have. No, I didn’t regret it.
5 people you’d love to see answer these questions
Feyikewa, Obida, Nedu, Funmilade Taiwo and Ian.
Read previous Obasanjo’s Internet entries here.