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 favorites on how they relate to the internet and what it means to them and their work. This week, we are joined by Dammy B, a small business expert, and influencer as we discuss how she uses Obasanjo’s Internet.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
I know this might sound funny, but I pray, and then I pick up my phone and check my Twitter mentions.
How do you use the internet for work or pleasure?
For all of the above.
What moment or episode in your life would you say captured the essence of the internet?
I think it was when I started doing assignments in uni. I could literally find all my assignments online and that’s when I realized how important the internet was.
Your favorite social media platform and why?
Definitely Twitter because I’m more conversational there. It’s easier to get people’s opinions and interact with people there. On Instagram, you just see videos and pictures but on Twitter, you get to hear people’s thoughts. I think it’s really amazing to see what people put out and what they can come up with and there’s so much you can learn from there. For instance, I go to Food Insiders page on Twitter a lot to find out how different meals in different parts of the world are made.
What was the last meme you saved?
Do you remember the first time something you posted went viral? What was it? How did it make you feel?
The first? I can’t remember. The stuff I post always goes viral. Viral tweets don’t do anything for me, most times I just mute them. It’s usually people coming to tell me how my tweets have gone viral. What really does it for me is the engagements. I love when people reply to my tweets so I can hear what they think. It’s really nice.
What’s the most outrage you have ever generated over something you posted? How did you react to it?
Oh my God, definitely. I started this small business support thing free of charge, I don’t charge anybody for it, but at some point, a lot of referrals I was making for two major vendors were going south. It was very bad and I got tired. So I thought to myself, the world is full of positives and negatives and I will not only be talking about the positives. This led to a thread of negative comments and people began sending in their negative reviews, along with evidence and there were over 200 negative reviews for just one vendor. The other had like 180, and the next thing people started to say it was a smear campaign but I wasn’t really bothered. I knew what I was doing.
What rules do you live by on the internet?
I’ve noticed that some of the outrage we express is unnecessary because the internet can get really one-dimensional. It’s easy to look at someone’s opinion from one perspective; meanwhile, that perspective doesn’t really embody the person. I’ve met a lot of people in person who maybe have said something annoying, but that’s not them, it was just a thing they said. So I don’t judge people by what they say anymore, I don’t get upset by people’s opinions anymore, it’s not me. I do make exceptions for situations like sexual assault, where I take people’s stances on these issues very seriously. I try to keep it at just jokes, and posting businesses and I try to avoid outrage.
What is your guiltiest online pleasure?
I think it’s just shopping honestly. I can’t even tell people the number of things that I buy in a day, it’s very bad, it’s very very bad.
Would you say you have an online persona?
Uh, yes. I guess so. Sometimes it’s easier to type out stuff, for example, I don’t speak any pidgin in real life but most of my tweets are in pidgin.
What’s your favorite emoji and why?
I’m always laughing, so I use it a lot. There’s a lot of funny stuff on the internet.
Are you particular about your feed?
Yes definitely, I remove people a lot, let me tell you how many blocked people I have – over 3000 blocked accounts. I always say you cannot come and stress me on my own phone, it’s my phone and I cannot be looking at something that is upsetting me on my own phone so please, let them go.
YouTube or TikTok? Which do you prefer and why?
YouTube, I’m a millennial, please.
Which Nigerian creator do you think the world needs to see and hear more of?
I like Korty, I like the way she’s going about her stuff, she’s quite different from your regular creator, she’s funny and very witty.
Who is the coolest person you follow and the coolest person who follows you?
Itunuoluwa of DermaSpace is the coolest person I follow. I have no idea who the person who follows me is.
What is your favorite Nigerian podcast?
It would be I Said What I Said because I don’t listen to any other one.
Have you ever hooked up with someone you met online?
Is that not where we now meet them? I can count the number of times I’ve met someone not online, the people I’ve been with have actually come from my Twitter page.
5 people you’d love to see answer these questions
Ajibola Grey, Dammy Elebe, Nenye, Mr. Macaroni, I think that’s it actually.