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, corporate lawyer, and writer Destiny Ogedegbe, popularly known as Mr. Possible talks to us about how he uses Obasanjo’s Internet.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
Pray, and then start on my to-do list which involves reading and others.
How do you use the internet for work or pleasure?
It is more for pleasure than it is for work. I don’t run a law firm, so I don’t exactly get clients. I use social media primarily for pleasure.
What moment or episode in your life would you say captured the essence of the internet?
I’ve had a couple of moments in my life that really captured the essence. When I got into Harvard, I remember posting on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram almost at the same time, and in less than an hour we were already talking about 200,000 people in views. It was crazy.
However, I would say the first time I really experienced it was when I graduated with a first-class from UNIBEN. It was everywhere at the time because it was quite record-breaking. I was the first guy to have done it in the faculty’s over 40-year history. It was crazy. Even before I got to know about it, the news was already everywhere.
The second time would be at such a broad scale. It’d probably be when I left my firm in Lagos because I talked about it on social media. I shared some stories and it was very inspiring. Many people found them to be inspiring. I don’t know if I can say they are inspiring myself. Then when I got into Harvard or even when I left Harvard, I’ve had a couple of moments like that where I put out information and I’m wowed by the transformative power of social media. It is phenomenal.
I think another essence of social media, one that may not be very well spoken about is just the fact that social media helps you see your life through the eyes of other people. You need to experience others to fully know yourself. That’s really the way it works. That’s what makes us social beings. Yeah. That is something that may not be very much spoken about, but it’s actually there. The top three and I’ve had experiences across the three of them.
Your favourite social media platform and why?
It will be Twitter because I learn a lot from it. I try to learn a lot. I could pass for a nerd because I like to consume a lot of information. I think I have a very amazing crop of followers. I’ve been able to amass some of the smartest people on Twitter, my followers, because sometimes when I read the comments, I’m always amazed by the quality of people who follow what I say, especially when some of the things I say can be very intellectual or even tedious.
Yeah. For that reason, I enjoy it. I can’t really say I enjoy platforms like Instagram that much because all of those things would bore me out. There is no avenue to actually have conversations like on Twitter. People can’t comment, people can’t quote. You don’t do all of those things with Instagram. You just post pictures and watch memes and reels. It’s not suited to my person in the way that I would really enjoy it. LinkedIn would be the third because while I’m a professional, I don’t exactly enjoy reading professional content because, for one, I find many of them very plastic, over-exaggerated. They don’t exactly humanize the experiences of these people.
What was the last meme you saved?
Kanye West meme
Do you remember the first time something you posted went viral? What was it? How did it make you feel?
The most memorable post I did was sometime in 2020. That was three years ago. I was making an analysis about Jesus Christ and some of his disciples. I think it was the first time I had a thread that was over, I think, 10,000 impressions. It was very memorable for me because I liked what I was saying. I don’t even know how I was led to say what I said, but I enjoyed the analysis I made. I had that conversation with a friend sometime, I think in 2018, but it wasn’t fully formed. That day I was just thinking about it and I thought to put it out and it worked very well.
https://x.com/Mrpossidez/status/1327557062331670530?s=20
What’s the most outrage you have ever generated over something you posted? How did you react to it?
I think the most outrage would be when I said that the need to speak with your partner every single day, for some people, might actually demonstrate a sense of trauma, maybe attachment, or something of the sort. I believe that once you are very at home with the person, the idea that you have to talk to them every day just doesn’t make any sense to me. I think I remember that. Yeah, you could text them, you could do other things, but to say you talk to them every single day, I mean, it’s desirable, but I still think it’s an unreasonable benchmark. I should be able to maybe get busy for a day without talking to my partner. I don’t feel that something has gone wrong. I’m not going to normalize it, of course. It has to be maybe when I’m busy or something like that. But I have to feel at peace knowing that it doesn’t ruffle anything.
https://x.com/Mrpossidez/status/1635446348458672128?s=20
What’s the most outrage you have ever generated over something you posted? How did you react to it?
I think the most outrage would be when I said that the need to speak with your partner every single day, for some people, might actually demonstrate a sense of trauma, maybe attachment, or something of the sort. I believe that once you are very at home with the person, the idea that you have to talk to them every day just doesn’t make any sense to me. I think I remember that. Yeah, you could text them, you could do other things, but to say you talk to them every single day, I mean, it’s desirable, but I still think it’s an unreasonable benchmark. I should be able to maybe get busy for a day without talking to my partner. I don’t feel that something has gone wrong. I’m not going to normalize it, of course. It has to be maybe when I’m busy or something like that. But I have to feel at peace knowing that it doesn’t ruffle anything.
https://x.com/Mrpossidez/status/1635446348458672128?s=20
It generated a lot of outrage. Just normally, I didn’t delete the thread, I engaged with as many comments as possible. I don’t really feel the need to post anything. I think that people are who they are. People change perspectives at their own pace. You may be wrong. You have to change yours at your own pace. End of the day, people reach you as deeply as they’ve met themselves. That’s just what it is for me.
What rules do you live by on the internet?
One would be, I don’t follow people who I cannot admire, people I don’t think I know, people I find to be upsetting, so to speak. I also cannot follow a person whose behavior I do not emulate in any way. For instance, I don’t follow most Nigerian politicians. I don’t like them. I don’t like the things they say. I find them to be dubious, corrupt people, intellectually, dishonest people. As a rule, I will not follow a person that I know I will criticize because I do not align with their values. There is no reason for me, for instance, I would follow Tinubu or Festus Keyamo or Femi Fani-Kayode. Yeah, just not going to happen.
Another rule is I would only engage you when I know that I can have a decent conversation with you. If I find you to be very defensive, and very easy to insult, I would never engage you. I would never comment on your stuff or try to make a rejoinder or maybe disagree with what you say because I tend to protect my peace. I don’t think it’s necessary because at the end of the day arguments barely change adults. They are who they are. They grow out of their paces. Like I said, they will meet you as deeply as they’ve met themselves. There is no need to drag all of that insult into my space. I just don’t engage.
The third would be I do not ascribe to malice what would be sufficiently explained by stupidity. That’s Hanlon’s Razor. It’s a popular idea. What it means in a social media context is if I see content, I do not try to impose what is not there on a content or a person. If I see maybe a blog or a podcast where young girls are talking about crazy things. I do not ascribe to them what was otherwise not the case. I do not look at these people as intellectuals. You can be famous and not intelligent. It happens all the time. I do not waste my energy trying to correct maybe an impression that the person has shared because that would imply in the first place that they knew what we were saying. The same level in terms of how much they’ve studied or how much they know. Sometimes it’s just unreasonable and unnecessary. An influencer is not necessarily an intelligent person.
What is your guiltiest online pleasure?
My guiltiest online pleasure would be laughing at memes. That would be it. Memes, videos.
Would you say you have an online persona?
I like to think everybody does in some sense because I don’t even think you consciously create one. I think society creates one for you based on how they see you. For instance, I like to think of myself as very normal and very accessible, but to many people on social media, there is absolutely no way I would correct their impression unless they get to know me personally. They’re always going to see me as this intellectual. You went to Harvard. You must be a very booky person, maybe even boring. Yeah, it’s just the way people work. If they cannot understand you, they have to come up with an explanation and they choose the closest explanation. Okay, he’s a scholar. What follows all of that? It should be boring. It should be this. It should be unromantic. All of those things come with it. You come to the package and you learn to live with it at some point. I don’t think I consciously created one for myself. If I wanted to, I would curate my Twitter or my social media in such a way that would reflect my professionalism and have all of those things on my bio. I’m not really moved by those things. I just want to be a normal human person. I don’t see value in a lot of things that society sees value in. I just want to do my work, do normal stuff, and get out of this place, really.
What’s your favourite emoji and why?
My favorite emoji would be the laughing emoji because I use it a lot. I’m always laughing when I’m chatting with people.
Are you particular about your feed?
Not so much. If I don’t like it, then I just ignore it. I don’t have to curate my timeline in a certain way.
YouTube or TikTok? Which do you prefer and why?
YouTube. I don’t have a TikTok. YouTube it’s informative and it’s extensive. I don’t really like getting tidbits of stuff when I cannot drill into it. For instance, I watched a 10-second reel that was saying something interesting. I can’t find the full video. I get really irritated or frustrated. I’d rather just be on my YouTube.
Which Nigerian creator do you think the world needs to see and hear more of?
Korty, the YouTuber, and Layi Wasabi. I think they are very creative people.
Who is the coolest person you follow and the coolest person who follows you?
The coolest person I follow is Harry Carter and the coolest person who follows me is Aruma Oteh, the former treasurer of the World Bank
What is your favorite Nigerian podcast?
Favorite? I don’t think I have really followed a lot of Nigerian podcasts. I wouldn’t know. Honestly, now that I think about it, I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve followed Nigerian podcasts.
Have you ever hooked up with someone you met online? Did you regret it?
Yeah, sure. Actually, a lot of people meet people online and meet in person. Yeah, it has happened a number of times. Not in a romantic sense.
Five people you would love to answer this question.
Harry Carter. Green. Dickson. Tems. Oloye