Staying Relevant

Many of us hide our insecurities so well that we forget that they fester beneath the surface and eat away the larger parts of ourselves. One of my biggest insecurities was becoming irrelevant. I wasn’t growing rapidly like my contemporaries were, acing the game and being at the top of my career. So, I took to chasing clout and creating a false perception. While I had grown my Twitter account organically over the years through my pop culture self-titled blog, Instagram became the hit thing. For a couple of dollars per month, I signed up on websites that were helping accounts manoeuvre the algorithm and creating engagements then I tried another platform which supplied me with a couple of hundreds of followers monthly and a certain number of likes and comments on my posts all because I wanted to stay relevant and have a page with a large number of followers so I can be seen as one of the cool kids of Lagos.

These things didn’t work for me particularly because they were not in alignment with who I am, my goals and my mission. The insecurity of wanting to be seen and admired contradicted my works and the caveat was that I was outgrowing social media platforms giving that I grew up on social media, the days of Hi-5, Myspace, Facebook and being one of the first few Nigerians to hit 10,000 followers on Twitter many years back, I was over it. I was over-relying on likes and comments for endorphins and feeling good. After a couple of wasted bucks and the self-loathing criticism, I knew I only wanted to use my social media platform to send out information pertaining to my projects, things that I do and whatever I want to share with the world. Even with my background in Media & Public Relations and helping brands grow their platforms and expand, I wasn’t willing to put in the work and the skills I so diligently put in for others into my own personal brand.

While faking it till you make it works for others, it didn’t work for me. I had to be clear on my intentions and what I was trying to achieve on my social media platforms. I wasn’t keen on taking selfies and doing photoshoots just to keep up with my social media aesthetics. The comments and likes were only temporary gratifications but what helped me stay relevant was how I was willing to use my voice, articulate my journey of perseverance, sharing my vulnerability and my uniquely lived experience with my mental health. I began to understand my niche and applied strategies that worked solely for my mission and purpose. I understood that if God has created you for a larger purpose, chasing clout won’t work for you. I have seen accounts with less than 3,000 followers get verified because their work and brand speak for themselves and purposefully if I may add. Staying relevant is by how you articulate your story, how you fulfil and share your mission, how you impact people or your community and how you continue to persevere in spite of the odds.