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, Editorial Director at Big Cabal Media, Ope Adedeji, talks to us about how she uses Obasanjo’s Internet.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
I more likely than not pick up my phone. I say my prayers obviously then probably check social media or my email and then I go to the gym. I think I have a pretty routine morning but it’s all of those things.
How do you use the internet for work or pleasure?
The work that I do is on the internet. As I say, the internet is like a big compound where you get to see different people. I like the way some people come online and say “Good morning my neighbors” because that’s essentially what it is. You get to see and witness a lot of different people, and mindsets, and for me, because I’m a writer it’s a good way to get inspiration. What are different people thinking about? What are their worldviews? What are their personalities? So exposure to different people is not something that you get in real life or every day except your job requires you to interact with people every single day. People say that when you read books, you get to travel to different places in the world and I think that the internet also gives us that because again, from social media, you get to witness how other places in the world are, but also even just reading the most random things online, you get to see this is what this place looks like, this is what their cultural beliefs are in this place And all of that.
And then for pleasure, I think the biggest thing there for me would be humor. I go to the internet to find funny things. Life is hard enough. There’s so much strife in daily life, especially when you’re Nigerian. So I’m always on TikTok or Instagram or even Twitter looking for the next funny thing to laugh about. Just sit down, and lose some brain cells. I really like that about the internet and also just entertainment from a gist POV – random people fighting about random things, talking about random things, it’s like free entertainment, you know.
What moment or episode in your life would you say captured the essence of the internet?
I’m not sure I have a specific moment but I guess I can share a few random things. I think the first one is quite recent. A lady tweeted about how a bird nested on her hair when she went on vacation with her husband and she took a picture of it. I think she later found out that she was pregnant and she did a thread on it. Very interestingly, people kept on sending it to me and the reason they were sending it to me was because a few years ago in 2019, I had written a story about a woman who kind of found out she was pregnant just by seeing a bird. I don’t think I’d ever done any research on what kind of omen birds bring. Perhaps I had heard a couple of stories. And then seeing that was very, I don’t know, validating and interesting that real life is not stranger than fiction. So I think that was interesting.
https://twitter.com/opeadedeji_/status/1762941288666538039?s=46
The second one is not a moment in my life per se, but I remember when Open AI’s CEO was ousted by the board. It was very interesting cause I work in media and my work is very intertwined with journalism even though I do not actively practice journalism. But I think it was very interesting to see how a particular journalist who is someone I respect was posting real-time updates about the situation. It was like watching a television drama, like Succession or something. I think it was very, very interesting in that way. And I think it also showed the way the internet has changed journalism and how it will likely continue to change journalism in a couple of years. So I think that was an interesting one but again, not in my personal life.
Your favourite social media platform and why?
It’ll be Twitter because Twitter is like a journal. You get to see people’s intrusive thoughts and things that you don’t really need to know about, and you also get to share yours. It’s also my worst social media platform with Elon Musk having bought X and not doing anything about the bots and the glitches with the platform, it’s just become a mess – and also taking out close friends, why did he do that? But I really like Twitter. There are friends I may not talk to regularly but I see their tweets. I personally think it’s a bubble but a lot of hot conversations happen and you get to see how people think and also how disconnected people can be from real life. I think coming in close would probably be Instagram. That’s where I find all of my humor. I go to Instagram to go laugh.
What was the last meme you saved?
Oh I’m not sure that I save memes but I do have a bunch of WhatsApp stickers that I really really love. Actually, for memes, I think there was an Aki and Pawpaw meme I saved recently and that was only because I wanted to create a short clip using the super story soundtrack to portray a very tense moment.
Do you remember the first time something you posted went viral? What was it? How did it make you feel?
I have gone viral before but I cannot remember my own post going viral. I had a crochet wedding gown for my wedding and it was very deliberate because I did want to go viral. My friend had taken a video of the dress and posted it on Twitter and I didn’t even see it. All I knew was that I came back the next day and I was getting a ton of notifications and I saw that people were talking about the wedding dress.
Obviously, people had very, very good things to say because it was very different, but people also had a bit of negative stuff to say like, “oh, they want their waist to be snatched” and I’m like “it’s not your own wedding, for your wedding you can wear what you want.” I wanted to wear this because I wanted to do something different. I want to do something that reflects me. The reason why I did the crochet wedding dress was because I wanted every member of my family to somehow be involved in the wedding or be a part of the wedding, right? So my sister hand made the crochet dress. The feedback was good. It was largely possitive but I know that there were haters but it’s fine, they can wear whatever they want on their own wedding.
What’s the most outrage you have ever generated over something you posted? How did you react to it?
I firmly believe in “stay in your lane.” When trendy stuff happens, I rarely comment. Once in a while I do, but I really try not to because I don’t like stress and wahala. If somebody writes a comment I align with I’ll probably retweet it but I wouldn’t go out of my way. I mean, once in a while I would reply.
But I think the one I remember was last year, someone had tweeted about how expensive weddings are and I was kind of upset because yes, I know that weddings can be expensive but I also know that you don’t have to stress and you can actually have a very cheap ass wedding. You can go to the registry, take photos, and have drinks or party packs for your friends and that’s basically it, right? Like, there’s too much on the spectrum from a cheap wedding to a very expensive wedding and I did like a spread on it. Maybe I was too harsh on the person who posted it because I was like, “you know, if you don’t have money, you don’t have money, don’t try and run into debt because you want to have a wedding” and some people just came to my DMs and started insulting me. It was funny but yeah I think I was a bit harsh on the person, but you know what? I said what I said.
What rules do you live by on the internet?
The internet doesn’t need to know your business. Nobody needs to know what’s going on in your life. Curate what you put out, curate what you share with people and I’m not saying don’t be honest but just try to withhold some things to yourself, and protect your loved ones as much as you can because people are ruthless online.
I think the third one is try not to assume – like someone posts something and you start spinning theories about it “Wow, this is how this person’s relationship is or this is how their work life is.” Don’t assume. They’ve only given you a small bite of a larger part of the story, a larger part of their life, or a larger part of an experience. Even if they were very detailed, don’t assume, just take what they said at face value, comment on it if you want, but don’t add what they did not add to it. It’s really not your business at the end of the day. I think the fourth one would be empathy and kindness. I think those are very important. Just extend kindness to people as much as you can.
What is your guiltiest online pleasure?
I’m a very obsessive online shopper. So, yeah, I think it’s shopping. I don’t even go into stores. I just shop a lot and I can be very obsessive about it.
Would you say you have an online persona?
No, I don’t think so. I like to think I’m under the radar and I can go like a week or a month without tweeting and then come back and tweet something cryptic. I don’t think I do.
What’s your favorite emoji and why?
I think I have a lot of favorite emojis. I like heart emojis, no specific color. I like the slant laughing crying emoji because I don’t think the normal laughing emoji captures how funny some things are. There’s this silly one where it has its tongue out and its eyes are slanted, I really really like it. The final one is the four leaf clover emoji, I really like that one.
Are you particular about your feed?
Not really anymore because the algorithm be ‘algorithming’ so I really don’t care. And Twitter is also a bit weird now and then Tiktok, I don’t really know what happened there so I’m not particular about it. I mean, there are some people, if I see their tweets on my timeline I’ll just be like,”What is this?” then I block them or mute them immediately. But other than that, I’m not.
YouTube or TikTok? Which do you prefer and why?
TikTok definitely. I have a short attention span so I just want to watch quick snappy content. If I’m watching YouTube, it’s an event. It means I’m settling down to watch something or learn something. With TikTok, I just want to laugh, download it, share, move on, or something like that. I also like creating stuff on TikTok, YouTube is not as easy.
Which Nigerian creator do you think the world needs to see and hear more of?
I mean, I’m a very big fan of Korty so I think she’s one person that is very interesting and I would love to see her on a more global stage. I think all the writers that I know, the young African writers, I can’t mention so many names but I definitely feel like the world is ripe to read more books and more stories by African writers.
Who is the coolest person you follow and the coolest person who follows you?
Maybe Asa is the coolest person I follow, I think she’s so cool. Maybe Asa and Lesley Arimah. The coolest person that follows me? I’ll say Lesley but I lost my other account and she doesn’t follow me on the new account. Who else? Ezra is cool people.
What is your favourite Nigerian podcast?
I Like Girls by Aisha Salaudeen.
Have you ever hooked up with someone you met online? Did you regret it?
Well, I married them. So no regrets.
5 people you’d love to see answer these questions
Tobi Allen, Oshomah Abubakar, Hassan Yahaya, The Vunderkind, Pemi Aguda, Fiyin Okupe.
Read previous Obasanjo’s Internet entries here.
