‘Ello!
The thing about writing a book is that the work doesn’t stop once you write the last word. It’s constant work, not just to ‘promote’ it, but to help people understand the importance of its contents. In my case, I want to rally people around a movement that shouldn’t be new, and should be ongoing. Our online safety is up to us. The platforms are not designed with safety in mind. They’re designed with clickbait and capitalism in mind. And we feed the algorithm. As we discuss in this conversation, the more you watch videos of online abusers like Andrew Tate online, the more you’ll see videos like that show up on your timeline (and not to mention, the more power you give them, because they’re hunting for your engagement).
I wanted to have a quick chat with Jameela, not just because she’s a good friend or because she’s featured in the book, but because she is a true activist committed to supporting the online safety movement, especially as a woman of colour in the public eye who has sadly been victim to a lot of online abuse. In our conversation, we talk about how platforms like Instagram – which we used to record this video – are inherently biased and we discussed allyship and what we can all do to support victims of online abuse.
It’s a quick 30 minute IGTV, so please give it a listen. But here’s a TLDR from my last few points about how to be preventative, not reactive, and keep yourself safe online:
Do a digital security audit. Do you have strong passwords? Two-factor authentication? There are so many ways abusers can sneak into our online lives, because we live so much online – it’s not just our social media, but our bank accounts and our emails.
Think about your online relationship. The algorithm and the nature of these apps we scroll through inherently encourage us into stay online more than we want to. So take time to pause and breathe. Do you actually want to be online? Do you want to engage? Remember that these platforms benefit from our rage.
Creating the feed that you want. Women (especially Black women), have been socialised to believe we need to serve others – subconsciously we’ve been told we can’t have rights and boundaries online. This is your permission slip. You can decide to mute or unfollow.
If you pre-ordered or bought my book – thank you so much! And if you haven’t and would like to, you can buy it here. Keep spreading the word and please leave a review it makes a huge difference. I’d also love to point you in the direction of this Refinery29 interview I did where I talk about my motivations in writing the book and illuminating how minoritised groups – particularly Black women – are those who face online abuse the most. Here’s a quote from the piece I think really sums things up:
I think we as a society need to get better at listening to Black women full stop — our cultural norms, our behaviours, even our language. We all need to make spaces safer for Black women offline and online so that Black women are believed when they come forward with their stories and their experiences. I definitely don't believe the responsibility should fall on the hands of the most minoritised to try and keep themselves safe. Because that's all we keep doing. We keep finding ways to stay safe in the club, on public transport and now online.
If you’re reading this, you’re online. And if you’re online, then you need to know how to be safe here.
Seyi x