Subject o’clock
April 3, 2023
Enchanted Chaos
April 17, 2023
Becoming more “digitally savvy” has been a focus of mine for the past couple of weeks. I am not talking about the type of digitally savvy as in: being your own IT support when things go wrong, use of Microsoft Office, connecting your printer.
It was based around the statement - if you are not visibly out there, how will your artwork be seen? I realised I required a metamorphosis of sorts, the knowledge that I had wasn’t working for me.
20 years back
Think back 20 years. No Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram. Social media was not even in its infancy, it was a thought, an idea. We used the internet selectively on computers when we needed to, and there was no such thing as a smart phone.
We have now become accustomed to doing our banking, ordering groceries, taking photos, checking the weather and communicating using several social media apps. Performing all of this off our smartphones - at our convenience.
Lost in the cloud or digital ether
Have you seen the Emoji Movie? The main character, a little emoji by the name of “Gene Meh” is labelled as “malfunctioned”. Gene can interchangeably adjust his emotions, and has several of them, in comparison to his peers - that are stuck with one emotion. Gene goes on a quest looking for another emoji by the name of “Jail Break” to assist him with his “malfunction”. As you watch the movie you realise how cleverly thought out it is. “High Five”, another emoji, takes Gene on an adventure looking for Jail Break on a teenager’s smartphone. High Five and Jail Break educate Gene about the smartphone’s apps (what their purpose is) and Gene is in awe.
It would be hilarious for us 20 years back to have watched this: we would have sat there asking questions, not understanding the puns, the jokes and the meaning behind these cute little characters - something that we use daily in our texts that we send to each other.
The reality is, a lot of us sometimes feel like Gene… a bit lost, sometimes overwhelmed and unsure on how to navigate the digital space. In addition, we find ourselves questioning the relevance and importance of it all.
Empowering yourself
These days if you don’t have a digital presence or know how to navigate this space - you quite frankly are losing out. This may be scary for you but once you start navigating, it does become easier.
For my website, I realised I required professional assistance. I certainly couldn’t develop one myself, and I also required guidance (and still need loads more) on how to improve my social media presence etc. I was taught how important it is to be consistent with uploads, how followers relate to content / posts that are authentic, and how your focus and digital strategy should feature around your own goals, and what success looks like to you! There are so many terms and tools out there: call to action (CTA), search engine optimization (SEO), direct message (DM), reels, bots, bio, google analytics… and the list goes on.
I realised that we need to empower ourselves with knowledge. We need to research, learn the lingo and keep abreast with the changes.
I don’t think I’m lost in the clouds anymore – cheers to you Gene Meh! I will however keep exploring and educating myself further.
Happy digitising,
