Is this digital suicide?
I’m conscious I’ve been silent for nearly most of this year since I made an announcement for the launch of Griffin & Co. I’ve even taken the luxury of de-activating my personal Instagram back in June. It is a sweet irony that my expertise and skills are helping others grow their digital presence and reputation that I’d want to completely eradicate my own. Is this digital suicide?
I’m not really sure why I did, but I think I wanted to reduce the digital noise and focus better. I was too distracted, and I suppose this is why people hire someone else (like me) to do this for them - because I found it difficult to keep up with. In honesty, it was beginning to affect my wellbeing and my perception of myself, which I’ve certainly struggled with in the past. I believe, there are genuine health risks in having a career in digital communications and the impact that can have on wellbeing.
Social media plays a very strange role in the world of mental health. It is statistically proven that higher use of social media has an increased risk of depression on people. For example, I was constantly feeling triggered by posts about the ‘Stop Asian Hate’ campaign on Instagram. It felt somewhat empty seeing all the fun, cookie-cutter style social media posts in the shape of digestible colourful infographics and “inspirational” quotes.
This kind of content just cut too close to home. I felt it wasn’t an effective way of communication. It diluted the message and didn’t encourage people to take it more seriously (and this was re-affirmed somewhat by reading the infuriating comments). It was recently reported by ITV that hate crime attacks against east and south east Asians in UK have increased by 50% in the last two years alone. Personally, I felt it began to skew my perception of society and the realisation of how uncomfortable it made me feel. It should be more meaningful, but it feels like it’s just another social media trend to share online.
I was lucky to have a listening ear and support from people such as Ica Headlam and Briana Pegado of We Are Here Scotland, Karlie Wu from BESEA.N and Christina Ong, a producer and researcher at BBC Scotland. I was lucky to be included as a contributor for the BBC Voices Unlocked programme to share my thoughts and experiences. I’ve been so grateful to have this community and network of other POC creatives over the pandemic to discuss and share these concerns with. It’s a somewhat isolating experience that can be hard to describe, but I’m learning (and unlearning) as I go.
So, where to go next? I’m (still) trying to figure out how to have a more healthy approach to work. Especially working within the field of digital strategy that has ever-growing demands and expectations. I reduced some of my projects over the summer which was a wave of relief.
But, in case you were wondering what else I’ve been up to…
FaceSoul by Stuart Alexander
Stuart Alexander
I took the opportunity to collaborate on some fun projects that were different from my usual style of work. I connected Sugu Arulpragsam to Stuart Alexander to produce music artist, FaceSoul’s first music video ‘All I Need’ with supporting material for the Grammy’s ‘Global Spin’. (Yep, even I didn’t see that one coming, right?) This led to producing another video ‘Ring Ding - A Scotsman’s Story’ for Tik Tok star Nathan Evans, with InterTalent Group and Polydor Records. You can watch it below (and I’m proud of Stuart - that it’s nearly had half a million views already!)
Izzy Brims
Scene Stirling’s ‘Digital Commissions’ exhibition launch
Scene Stirling is a cultural partnership project with Stirling Council and Creative Scotland, led by Artlink Central. As part of this project, my role was to support, develop and implement a professional digital skills training programme and setting up a mentoring platform for their commissioned creatives. Scene Stirling aims to address the impact of digital exclusion on the creative and cultural community in Stirling, caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Stirling has now been announced as the only Scottish bid for ‘UK City of Culture 2025’.
PhysioMedics
It was rewarding to work alongside PhysioMedics, a digital healthcare company to help position themselves as a thought leader in their industry by producing their first downloadable digital whitepaper; ‘Digital Triage in Corporate Wellness and Private Practice’. This included a new webinar series featuring Professor Paul Cameron and Scott Simpson to share the latest data and information that digital health offers to the corporate and private practice sector, as part of their Innovate UK grant funding.
WeeKett
I’m so proud that WeeKett, a smart home appliance company that came from humble beginnings a few years ago, has been announced the ‘No. 1 Most Wished for Kettle’ on Amazon. It’s been great to watch them grow from strength to strength and drive innovation with smart technology, by supporting new parents and those with mobility issues (and of course, tea lovers!).
Henderson’s and The Palmerston
I had the pleasure to develop the brand identity of two new independent restaurants in Edinburgh, The Palmerston and Henderson’s. Henderson’s is founded by Barrie Henderson with a stylish take on vegetarian dishes. The Palmerston, founded by James Snowdon and Lloyd Morse, champions Scottish cuisine with seasonal ingredients. I worked alongside Kenna Studio to design the visual identity of The Palmerston’s ‘Fiona the Duck’ logo to fit their Parisian-inspired restaurant and bakery.
Phew! So, if you managed to get this far… Thank you for reading. It’s been a whirlwind of a year. My next challenge is setting new day rates for work (and more boundaries) for 2022, as digital strategy and creative work become even more challenging and time-consuming to produce. Even as someone who basically grew up on the Internet, these last 18 months have been difficult to grasp the rapidly changing landscape.
There is huge potential in the field of digital, but it’s not as straightforward as it once was. It requires research, insight and creative thinking to harness all the new digital platforms, features and tools coming out. I’m constantly adapting, building and finessing my digital skills and knowledge. On the plus side, it’s exciting to create, discover and innovate but on the downside, it can be overwhelming on your psyche, especially when the demand for digital has accelerated so much.
On another note, I’m not sure if I’m ready to return back to Instagram (just yet) and maybe when the time feels right, I’m sure you’ll see me re-appear. Behind the scenes of a carefully curated post, I’ll still be reflecting and learning from my previous mistakes of what works (and doesn’t) and experimenting with different platforms. In deciding (and knowing) what I am comfortable with (and uncomfortable with), I can now plan how to effectively manage the potential burnout that comes from working in digital.
If you fancy chatting in 2022, I’ll be trying to be less of a hermit and getting back into the real world as things begin to open up again. You can get in touch with me through all the usual routes.