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Blog, Creative Essays, Writers

A Commentary On: Dear Netizens by Victor Oladejo

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Victor Oladejo has written an e-book and you can read the pdf version of DEAR NETIZENS here. Enjoy his commentary below. The best part of being a writer is not the writing itself, but the people you meet along the way.~ Stephen King. The Cmonionline community has been a home for me since I published my first work and whenever I think about my journey as a writer so far, this quote at the entrance of this essay beams with more meaning. In this community aside from giving my work a home on the website, the leadership has presented different opportunities in terms of cash rewards, workshops, and great seminars. I could recall that sometime this year, we had a meeting with a ghostwriter on how to ghostwrite. The opportunities here, I must say, are tremendous. The last community program we had this year, 2023, was the 21-day challenge. Here we had live sessions that I benefited from, also we were taught how to organize days in routines. For me, during the 21 days of the challenge, I participated in, I learned many things that inspired my digital product. One of which is time management. During one of the life sessions, I explained my social media life and everything about it. During the live session the coordinator, the founder of the community, Odogwu Cmoni helped break down what I should know in terms of time management and what I should stay occupied with online. Surprisingly, the need for the experience came in handy for my digital product. In the digital product I used my experience online and the lessons from the 21-day journey to weave a guild of three suggestions, however, other processes were involved in its creation. Aside from burrowing from the experience garnered into the process in the course of the 21-day challenge, I developed my ideas using research that involved other cultures like the Japanese work ethic, and the Latin wise sayings. The Japanese lifestyle intrigues me because of the discipline associated with it, if you read Tony Robbins’s book: Awaken the Giant Within, you’ll have come across the word: Japanese miracle and how kaizen a concept that translates as continuous improvement helped them, hence the reason I included Kanban in my product, I believe this would spark a light of curiosity into this amazing culture in the reader. As for the Latin words, I have a personal liking for words that originate from this place. I believe in the process of studying an important concept in two different languages, the understanding would slip in on its own. The writing process of the product was the bulk of the Job. The target title of the book was the first thing that woke my muse. At first, I thought the Netizen was a Nigerian slang until Mirriam-Webster shocked me. The writing process involved creating the drafts, fleshing them out, and with the help of Bard Ai, I corrected some sentences and punctuated the words in the digital product. Also while I was writing, I was careful to ensure the digital product covered social media life and time management with the three suggestions to the best of my ability at the time of production. As for the book cover, I applied my knowledge of Graphic Design to the Book cover design by adding the image of a lady lost in her thought with some social media icons floating about, this message here is that we have people who use social media and they spend most of their time in it as they shuttle from one platform to another in pursuit of trends. I also added links to related websites to the digital product to ensure the readers can have further knowledge on the central topic of the guide. I believe this digital product: DEAR NETIZEN, will help the readers manage their time on social media and see changes in their lives just like I have seen changes in my social media life, especially my timeline on Twitter and the 21-day challenge has improved my online presence as I now control my online presence. However, I still have to work on routine and time management as it is a continuous process. Also, least it slips away, in the challenge I explored the book creation and I discovered a new approach to it before I conclude this write-up, I would like to implore the readers to go through the ebook and put it to great use, also feedback is appreciated as they encourage me to write more.

Blog, Lifestyle

Your pathway to online productivity.: Disappear For 21 Days.

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Week 1: Welcome to our first meeting. I’m a stickler for punctuality but I usually give 10 minutes because we all know the frustrations with Nigerian networks. So after 10 minutes, we started with Becky Peleowo and Solomon Ekoja. The attendance was good enough for me to unpack my points without any feeling of disappointment. I’m experienced enough to know that doubts often follow disappointments. It is even more so in the early stages. Your response should be to hang in there with self-belief because you are creating value to build something bigger than yourself. The disappointment and doubts will eventually form an interesting part of your success story. So I thanked them for accepting the challenge and turning up. Now let’s dive in. I’m excited about this self-development step of having better control of your time. If you have been following my writing, you will know I’m interested in skills capabilities development with writing as the crucible. I develop compelling content including but not limited to articles that not only inform but also provoke thought and discourse. It’s a burgeoning passion fueled by the desire to give back to society. Before now, I wrote sociopolitical commentaries mostly on Facebook — arguably a complete waste of time. I could write multiple posts daily. It’s easy. I introduce the topic, smack down opposing views, then present my take and conclude. That’s it. Post done and arguments ensue! But if I have to be published in a newspaper — perhaps a worthwhile venture —  I take my time to research the topic, review the background, argue for and against it, and analyse the different perspectives before concluding with my opinion/suggestions. It’s a skill I learned in my Cardiff days studying Political Communication. It’s also a better way of articulating my thoughts in a more comprehensible manner. However, I decided to move on to scalable writing, investing my resources in building digital communities for knowledge acquisition that will enhance the productivity of our teeming youths. I no longer fall for cheap dopamine and the vacuous validation of uncritical minds. Now I derive real enduring pleasure in reading stories from writers in our growing community, in seeing their enthusiasm as we chat during Talkshops and in the vision I have for younger people to be more productive by creating solutions that add value. The cmonionline essay competition was a baby step I took during the pandemic lockdown of 2020 to improve the waning literary culture in Nigeria. Through repetitions and iterations, we developed consistency in writing and we keep growing. Already a member of our community Oluwaseun Osanyinro has published a book and more members will evolve into published authors at the end of our current “A Book In A Year” project.  We are also evolving into digital creators, educators and multiple solution providers as we acquire practicable digital skills through various e-tivities. It’s a process, and even though progress may appear slow now, I am certain the tune will be different sooner than later. By embarking on this journey we will reduce the distractions in a fast-paced world and increase our focus which of course is essential for improved productivity. During our meeting, I narrated my Facebook story which informed this challenge. I also shared my experience with Communities Of Practice, a module in my post-graduate studies at UCC which exposed me to the importance of group work and collaboration. Future write-ups will have these stories but for now, let’s focus on what we can start doing. Much of what we have to do in 21 days is in the text you read. In between we will meet thrice to discuss and learn on Sundays 19/11/2023, 26/11/2023 & 03/12/2023. If you haven’t read the post please find time to read it here. Let me repeat number 6 which will form the basis of the final creative project that will win the 100k prize. Journal: Finally, get a notepad/diary, traditional or digital and write down your daily routine/experience. As hard as it may seem, endeavour to write some words each morning. 100, 200 or more words will do as the following 3 weeks may well prove to be a turning point. And what better way to appreciate it than to record it for possible systemisation, productisation and monetisation! ACTIONABLE TIPS: You can start doing any or all of the following that require zero capital. 1. Create a routine if you don’t have one already. If your routine is based on your current job you need to modify it to integrate your aspirations. Don’t spend all your time working to achieve another person’s goal. 2. Start sanitising your social media TL Follow those who post value and your interests. Interact, engage. Social media is a mirror that works on algorithms. Your input determines your output. I follow and unfollow people daily. If you constantly tweet values like writing and other skills I’ll follow you. If you repeatedly tweet frivolities like betting and porn I will unfollow you. Read this post to understand more. 3. Use a reminder to think twice before you act online. eg I have a stop sign as my screensaver. It reminds me to stop engaging in frivolities when I pick up my phone. 4. Start creating online. I’ve written about this here. The creator economy is huge and guess what? It requires zero capital to start. You only need digital skills. There are tons of free and affordable knowledge tutors to learn from. Podcasts, YouTube videos, courses etc. 5. Use tools that aid your consistency. eg I use Buffer to schedule my posts every Sunday. If I’m driving or sleeping my scheduled posts are uploaded. You can start with free versions of these tools till you feel the need to upgrade. 6. Start learning a new skill or something. As you would expect I recommend writing ie if you are not writing already. But there are many other skills, especially digital skills to learn for free. Email and social media marketing, graphic design, copywriting, public

Blog, FEATURES, Lifestyle, Resources

Success Journey XXV: Why Writing Is The Crucible Of All Media Creations.

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Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. ~ Stephen King   I’ve had a few people question why I chose writing. Why not create audiovisual content like others are doing and start earning money? I mean writing doesn’t pay much, does it? It should be easier to convince and convene people to learn content creation that will earn them good money. Before I unpack my points let’s get two things straight. Firstly, it is erroneous to think that writers don’t make money. And secondly, writing is the root of all content. Now I am not a fan of those ads/articles that ‘reveal’ how you can make millions from writing etcetera simply because I know a majority of them are false. The aim is usually to sell something to you or worse still, sell you as a product by collecting your data. But don’t get me wrong people earn good money by writing. For instance, David Perell. But he will be the first to tell you the plain truth. You don’t become JK Rowling or Stephen King in a year or even 10. These bestselling authors were once like us, struggling to fill those blank pages and at times to pay the bills. The abraxas is that writing is a process. You just have to keep doing it by following the right path ie learning and implementing the strategies of those who succeeded before you. Then the millions MAY roll in. But even if you don’t earn big money you will still get the most important thing, fulfillment! There are innumerable reasons why writing is important and most people want to write for bragging rights. Of course, I want to belong to that elite societal class but I chose writing because of 3 things; 1. I love reading good stories. 2. It is a craft that gets you reading, thinking, and of course, writing MORE! (all components of learning). 3. Ultimately every creation started with an idea that must be written and acted on. So if thinking is the father of creativity ie the means of conception then writing is the mother that births it ie the delivery path. Writing is the mother of all media creations. There is practically nothing you can build or create without writing. Books, songs, movies etcetera. This is trite knowledge. Before now I used to scoff at Instagram slay queens who are all about skimpy wear and dancing as content. But I realised that many still write to describe their intention. Be it modelling, marketing or whatever, they write at least a line or two. So writing is critical. It is the crucible. If thinking is the father of ALL media conception then writing is the mother through which it is delivered. I hope I’m beginning to make sense. You can see that as a writer you already have the foundation to grow many branches. Your work can be converted into books, songs and movies. As writers, we join communities and interact because we want to keep improving our craft. Yet as as members of a larger society we equally want to acquire knowledge and skills in other areas that will improve our productivity. Learning from those who are doing it and willing to share free knowledge is a huge plus. Now even if we don’t set out to make money by writing we still want to earn some income from it. Money is the lifeblood of any society. It’s the sad truth but many make the mistake of prioritising the pursuit of money over value creation and end up disappointed or worse still, fall into greedy traps. But if you acquire essential skills, and create value/solutions the money will definitely pursue you. From writing to e-learning to languages and even foreign education and scholarships. I write about all these all the time because I want to learn and enhance my productivity with people who have the same goal. Through learning and networking, we can add better value to society and ultimately earn more. Now you can stack up these complementary skills and take a holistic approach to whatever you wish to create. Or you can niche down to the area that tickles your fancy the most. Either way, the ever-burgeoning creator economy is yours for the taking. You can brand and monetize your product and service after gaining the requisite experience. In the nearest future, this community would have metamorphosed into an institute for knowledge acquisition that will be either free or at the most affordable for anyone who desires to be intellectually productive. And the great thing is that by being part of our community you would have a diverse network of digital creatives as your support system. CAVEAT!!! There are no quick hacks. It’s a gradual process of trial and error. Learning and unlearning. Iteration and evolution. But believe me, it will be fulfilling and well worth it. In the meantime, we keep pushing with our current project of writing a book in a year. Reach out via our contact form if you want to join us or collaborate. If you enjoyed this please share it and hit the follow button to join our community of digital creatives let’s grow together. Thanks for reading.

Blog, Resources

Cmonionline Talkshop: Digital Creativity & Social Media

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Plus FREE Graphic Design Course For 10 Attendees. In a few years, there will be half a trillion dollars for the taking by content creators. Goldman Sachs recently predicted that as the ecosystem grows, the total addressable market of the creator economy could roughly double in size over the next five years to $480 billion by 2027 from $250 billion today. Now we know that oftentimes writing doesn’t pay the bills. Many successful authors had to juggle between work and writing. Some even worked multiple jobs to make ends meet while still doing the craft they love. So it is normal that writers are asked to earn through other means even as they push the pen. Yet getting a job let alone a well paying one can be more arduous than writing itself. But that was then because thankfully the affordances of the digital era are innumerable and the burgeoning creator economy adds to the rich tapestry of the writer’s life. Smart people with digital skills are earning good incomes by leveraging social media. This is why I never stop writing about the need to acquire these skills. So in line with this, we will have a Talkshop on Sunday, June 25th, 2023. This time we are delighted to have two enthusiastic content creators Ada @lightwoxng and Ifunanya @iphie_explores as guest speakers. They will share their thoughts on digital creativity and social media. In the past, we trained 5 people in Graphic Design and this time we have decided to double the figure. Attending this session and training in graphic design will definitely give you the foundation to start creating and added to your writing skill its fair to say that the sky will be your beginning. Why do I say this? Because writing is the mother of all creation and in this internet era, content rules! So why not join us via Google Meet to discuss Digital Creativity & Social Media on Sunday, 25 June · 6:00 pm Video call link: https://meet.google.com/nty-inoc-scq It’s IMPORTANT to know that attending the Talkshop is part of the criteria for choosing 10 beneficiaries of the FREE Graphic Design course.

Blog, FEATURES, Lifestyle

Between AY, Basketmouth and Friendship.: Success Journey XX : On Friendship

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Those who quickly show the marks of friendship to each other wish to be friends, but are not friends unless they both are lovable and know the fact; for a wish for friendship may arise quickly, but friendship does not.~ Aristotle I actually started this draft after watching AY on Chude’s show last week and subsequently got distracted. But then I read a tweet about Basketmouth’s reaction yesterday and decided to finish it. Even before I watched Basketmouth’s recent interview with Nedu Wazobia and his crew I already wrote that the two comedians were neither good nor true friends and may never be. Basketmouth just confirmed this. I mean why would you owe me and I will be begging for forgiveness? For ages for that matter? Even gatecrashed your wedding? What offence are we even talking about? For using the available means to try and get paid money I earned? Oh come on! The animosity between them is definitely deeper than 30k but that is their headache. It only brings me to my point of latching on to the keyboard this morning. Recently, a friend who seemed concerned about my sudden inactivity on Facebook rang to check up on me. After exchanging pleasantries he asked if my sudden inactivity was because my ‘friends’ now avoid my page since I became Obidient. I laughed long before reminding him of our previous discussion some years back. Then he was also worried that I appeared to be losing ‘friends’ over my adamant support for the Buhari administration. You see friendship is one thing I cherish. For many years I had a plaque on my door that read “Friends make the world go round”. The Encyclopedia Britannica defines friendship as a state of enduring affection, esteem, intimacy, and trust between two people. Notice my emphasis on the word two. Friendship isn’t really for three people because as they say, three is a crowd. It is a bond between two people. My late dad added that it is often one party that bears the burden of friendship. Let me break this down a bit. Over the years I’ve seen many cases of one party doing more than the other in a friendship and I will use myself as an example. If there have been a thousand calls between me and my best friend, I can tell you that he rang 900 times. Had we maintained the same frequency of reaching for the phone to ring each other we could have had only 200 calls. That is 800 fewer discussions and of course, you know what that means. But does it show he cares more or that I care less? Definitely not! If friendship is measured by who cares more or less then in my dictionary that is no friendship. Ours can be likened to Aristotle’s model of friendship. We are not bonded together through need, utility, or familial duty, but rather through long years of kindness, mutual respect and loyalty. Aristotle described this thus: “Now those who wish well to their friends for their sake are most truly friends; for they do this by reason of own nature and not incidentally; therefore their friendship lasts as long as they are good-and goodness is an enduring thing.” It is the good virtues like kindness, mutual respect and loyalty we represent over the years that provide the incentive for sustaining the bond of friendship. So back to the convo with my worried friend. I told him that many of those who avoided my page a few years ago are now my ‘friends’ and in the same vein if I switch my political support tomorrow those ‘friends’ who are now avoiding my page will sneak back and start clapping. You see social media makes it easier to have friends these days. Friend requests/suggestions are usually made according to algorithms like common friends and shared interests. And some people mistakenly assume they have made friends. That is why you see people bringing confidential issues to social media with the laughable caption “Friends what should I do?” True friendship is neither based on a few years of social media interaction nor built on shared socio-political ideologies. The fact that you and I believe Nsala is the best soup in the world will never trump the experience of enjoying it together at Ada Enyi’s restaurant. Think about it, your ride-or-die friends who always have your back are usually those who have travelled the same path. They are those that have shared secrets, drank and even did a blood oath with you. As a disciple of the time-tested theory of 5 close friends, I usually describe people I meet on social media as what they are; social media friends. This is because I know that many are what Aristotle described in Nicomachean Ethics Book VIII as utility friends (where both people derive some benefit from each other) and pleasure friends (where both people are drawn to the other’s wit, good looks, or other pleasant qualities). It then follows that as these needs, beliefs and principles evolve, this type of friendship begins to fade because we no longer receive the benefits. But should I write off decades of a relationship based on loyalty, shared experiences and mutual trust because a friend supports what I term to be a failed administration? Or should my friends discard me because they no longer get dopamine from my posts? Of course not. Doing so will mean we placed a higher value on transient beliefs and benefits above inherent goodness, individuality and trust. In reality, some of my best friends are not even on social media. And those who are there value our relationship above whatever ideological differences we may have. I say this because my definition of authentic friendship is based on the famous Kate Angell saying; “A good friend will come and bail you out of jail, but a best friend will be sitting next to you saying, ‘Damn, that was fun’!” Nevertheless, all I have

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