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, one of the most notable faces in the Nigerian tech content creation scene, Kagan Tech, gives us the scoop on how he interacts with Obasanjo’s Internet.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
I pick up my phone. Usually, I’m awake by 2 am; I open my eyes and reach for my phone. I check my notifications to see if anyone asked me anything important (emails, work and money-related stuff). I reply that while I’m still in bed. Immediately I’m done with that, I pick up my second phone and head into my office.
How do you use the internet: for work or pleasure?
Both, I think. I really can’t tell the difference between work and play anymore. I’m the guy who would wear an Agbada on a hoodie with Air Jordan retro 4s to a phone launch event and I look funny, but to me that’s me enjoying myself.
What moment or episode in your life would you say captured the essence of the internet?
There have been several moments for me that I feel captured the essence of the internet. I like to see the positives in a thing first before I look at the negatives. A few years ago a girl called Debbie had cancer and she needed money to go abroad. Thanks to crowdfunding efforts the internet gave her all the money she needed to go abroad and stay there to get treatment for several years. Even though she eventually lost the fight, it was really nice to see that people were able to give her some hope and she was able to live for several years more than was initially projected for her.
That’s a really beautiful story. It’s not peculiar to you though. Do you have one that is?
Okay. So I have been on YouTube since January 1, 2017. I remember at the end of December 2016 I was dead broke. I had like 205k to my name and it was meant to be my rent. I used that money to buy a camera with no plans on how I was going to make it back or monetise. I started posting a few videos a week and a year later I was posting high-quality reviews daily. I wasn’t making a lot of money from it, but I hired people using the money I was making from my freelance business. Ran the channel for about 6 more years without seeing any substantial results. My YouTube channel became an expensive hobby and I said “I can’t do this anymore.” I left YouTube and video-making to focus on fitness. 7 months later, after improving my fitness, I just didn’t feel like continuing with YouTube. That’s when I eventually decided to check out TikTok. In my mind, TikTok was fertile ground. I didn’t expect how welcoming everyone was on there to the tech content and that led me to quit my job and focus on content full-time. From having about 20 TikTok followers, in 3 weeks, I’d grown to over 200k. Another 3 weeks and I was closing in on 300k. I eventually brought the content over to Instagram and in about 12 days, I had grown to over 100k.
Your favourite social media platform and why?
Instagram. Instagram is consistent. With TikTok, it’s very easy to blow up. Anyone can have 100k followers. With Instagram, if you have 400k followers you can consistently expect a particular recurring amount of viewership. But with TikTok, you can have 2 million followers and post a video that gets just 300 views.
What was the last meme you saved?
This one.
Do you remember the first time something you posted went viral? What was it? How did it make you feel?
It was a review of a BlackBerry passport in 2019. Up until 2020, I was using a BlackBerry. I was always making videos about BlackBerrys, why I love them, and why they’re still the best phones. So I did a throwback video of why I’m still using a BlackBerry passport in 2019 and in a week I saw 300k views with just 7k subscribers on YouTube. I felt like people could like and watch my content. I felt relevant. It felt good to acknowledge it in that way.
What’s the most outrage you have ever generated over something you posted? How did you react to it?
I’m a very controversial character. It was a video I made very recently about the negative sides of people being able to track your iPhones with the Find My app. While it can be a very useful feature, there are people who have figured out a way to use that system against people who don’t know. In my head, it was an opportunity to go viral so I made it very dramatic. I talked about how the system could be used to nonconsensually monitor your location and even used to kidnap you. When I dropped the video everyone was now saying how there are still positives to it and how they use it with their families. But you have to be smart enough to know that a tech creator already knows that, so you’re not the target market. So I just post the video, lock up, reply to both the people abusing me and those saying thank you and I leave. I came back a few days later to see 800k views and a comment section filled with hate. I thrive off controversies like that. I’m completely fine with people going off in my comments section.
What rules do you live by on the internet?
There’s just one, tbh. The most important things in my life don’t get onto the internet. Basically, nobody on the internet knows anything about me. I don’t think anybody knows my name. Just keep your personal life personal.
What is your guiltiest online pleasure?
Keyboards. I have a collection of over 70 mechanical keyboards. Before my blow-up, I was really buying a lot of keyboards. I’m a collector.
Would you say you have an online persona?
Yeah. The person online is definitely different from my real self, and anyone who knows me beyond the internet will definitely tell you that. Very very different. There’s a huge contrast.
What’s your favourite emoji and why?
It’s stuck between these two: 🤌🏼 and 🙃. Not every app has it (🤌🏼) but I like using it a lot to make points or when something really interesting happens and you want to make that gesture. I really like it but it’s not everywhere. I like the upside-down smile because when you annoy me it’s what I just use. I just smile and leave. It works for so many different situations; it’s quite versatile.
Are you particular about your feed?
I just post my stuff and I go. I don’t arrange anything. Someone told me I have an aesthetic feed and I told her that I didn’t know what she was talking about. I just shoot my videos and I post. Whatever you see is your business.
YouTube or TikTok? Which do you prefer and why?
Definitely, TikTok. YouTube is basically modern-day slavery. They use the money to entice young creators. What they don’t tell you is there’s a 0.1% chance of you ever getting to the point where you make an actual living on YouTube. YouTube can waste your entire life selling you hopes and dreams and in the end, you get nothing. With TikTok, at least from the jump, you know you’re not going to make any money. But with consistency and finding your voice and people you will definitely blow up on TikTok: it’s a matter of time, consistency, and hard work.
Which Nigerian creator do you think the world needs to see and hear more of?
Ogeh Ezeonu. She knows more about tech than any woman I’ve ever met.
Who is the coolest person you follow and the coolest person who follows you?
The coolest person I follow is Flossy Carter and I think the coolest person that follows me is Oscar Frank.
Have you ever hooked up with someone you met online?
Yes. I met my girl online.
5 people you’d love to see answer these questions
Pastor Olushola, Nonye from This Thing Called Fashion, Ogeh Ezeonu, Pasheda, and Manja Lee.