By: Nahenda Matheus
I started working in the digital space while I was still studying. I remember managing a couple of social media accounts and charging little to nothing because I was still a student and during that time the Namibian digital landscape had not picked up yet.
In my opinion, nothing has changed since I started; people/organisations still do not understand the impact of putting out content and providing information for a digital audience.
In fact, a lot of Namibian organisations are not aware that by automatically providing a product/service you have created a brand of some sort, and the moment people start sharing their experience on using your services or product online, the result is what we call a “Digital Footprint”.
The next step after particular information about you or your business has been shared online is to own your digital footprint. This is when you start to control the narrative and put out content that you would like to be associated with your brand.
I still manage a few social media accounts, the biggest being Eagle FM Namibia and what I have learned over the years is that working in media is that organisations in Namibia do not own their digital footprints, you have what we call a passive digital footprint: information collected about you by others without your knowledge.
This information can be false and misleading but because you do not get the chance to represent yourself, potential customers and future investors run with what they see.
This brings me to the most crucial point in this article; if you cannot manage your own social media accounts, pay somebody to do it because anything that is posted online whether with good intentions or bad will live on the internet forever.
The documentation of your journey online is one that will be traced back to the essence of your existence and the best way to make sure that your work lives forever is to invest in your digital footprint.
This is an observation. The advice is that as much as you believe the nation is not technologically advanced, you would be surprised to learn that people DO KNOW of your business, but the narrative about it out there might be false because you do not prioritise your customer’s journey by controlling the narrative.
Nahenda Matheus is a content creator and social media manager. The views expressed herein are her own.
