Hope you're having a wonderful weekend, wherever you are & whatever you're up to.
As (luck) would have it, I've been recovering from COVID-19 (just had it for the first time) & essentially, pondering my existence over the last decade. In fact, today I renewed my Google domain & it's always a proud feeling of mine every year. To some, this may not mean anything as I don't have some 7,000 members but when I was 16, I created my blog as a creative outlet following trauma.
I feel strongly that the realm of media has shifted over the last couple years and that platforms, such as Instagram, have upped their algorithm game to a point that it even surprises me, sometimes.
I'm often left wondering - is anyone truly appreciating real content anymore?
As we scroll and scroll mindlessly, are we truly retaining the information? For all my media peeps: A 5% increase in your Customer Retention Rate (CRR) can boost profits by 25% (TripleWhale).
When I started blogging, I took inspo from BryanBoy and I would get giddy every time a new post would pop up on his site, staring in awe at those "beyond" outfits. I loved that he explained his heritage (Philippines) & never lost sight of this along the way. I loved watching the likes of Shahs of Sunset (please Andy, bring the series back & scrap Mike. The incident is way beyond acceptable but that doesn't mean the rest of the cast have to suffer) & KUWTK as it felt refreshing to see people of colour on my TV screen. Of course, Bend it like Beckham (2002) was the pinnacle of Indian Diaspora British film, though (iconic).
I often find that as an independent South Asian (Sindhi) woman at 27 years of age, born and bred in London and estranged from much of my family, I struggle to relate to the content creators that I follow. Sure, it's amazing to see strong powerful brown women killing it but I'm often left wondering... where is anyone like me? Maybe I'm not looking in the right place & maybe I'll never find that. The sheer fact that I studied English with Film at a prestigious Arts & Humanities campus is pretty groundbreaking to many Asian communities. Traditionally, we go down the Medicine/Pharma/Finance routes but that never truly interested me.
KCL - my bae... I'll come back for that Global Security MSC some day :D
I will, however, give a huge shout out to the following powerful women I've seen doing amazing things on IG & killing it with their businesses: Bishamber Das, Lailli & Alizé Mirza (I will be at Biolite some day & the mere fact that this renowned aesthetic clinic replied to me, made my day with COVID) Diipna Anand, Tanvi, Nafia Khan, Anncy.
I literally died at this video as Anncy is HILARIOUS but it's actually accurate & very sad that skin lightening products are so widely promoted in India. I remember being there & so many of these ads would appear. In the trash, F&L goes....
Whilst I appreciate the fast-paced nature of Insta reels, I never got into TikTok as I felt it was a little bit too childish for my taste (please don't kill me!) However, I have been on there recently as I feel it's a good way to tap into Gen Z's fun & sassy tastes.
I recently downloaded Christine Quinn's Audible book & listened to it via Alexa --> epic (plus I could do some chores in the background).
I enjoyed the fact that Christine kept it all the way 100 & I could hear the pain in her tone of voice. I've heard countless stories of how brutal American high school life can be but I can resonate to some of her stories (including the glue in hair situation) & I can only imagine what it's like to not be able to pursue further education and force yourself into the spotlight. By distinguishing Christine's voice from her appearance, it became apparent that she is a strong woman.
I feel audio books are the way forward...
My screen time is so ridiculous sometimes between all of my apps, emails and messages that I often lose sight of reality. Listening to audio or reading a book may seem old school but I feel it's important to balance tangible/physical forms of media vs. digital. Also, I remember to this day, some epic quotes from Christine's fabulously striking voice which truly says something about the audio form.
As I've delved into the Metaverse, I'm so grateful to be a part of some fantastic, innovative communities and there is now genuinely so much I want to look at and be a part of but I have to remember, I can't do it all (and that's okay).
Today's media world is so saturated with the rise of voice-assistants and media multi-tasking (who else watches TV & plays on their phone?)
It's a wild time but one which we can enjoy and utilise, so long as we remember our zen time, filter out negative content vibes & ensure we are promoting all demographics.
