Web presence

The internet has made a massive difference to the work of foreign correspondents who just a generation back were using telex, booking expensive satellite lines and editing radio reports on physical tape. Not only has technology made the job of reporting and sending material a whole lot easier, but it has also radically changed distribution and introduced the idea of interaction. My web presence is quite complicated, and in many ways I’m just starting out, but this page acts as a guide to my various platforms (‘brands’?) on the web, and my stuttering attempts to make the most of the possibilities the web offers. I’m indebted to role models in this domain like Adam Westbrook and Graham Holliday.

John James – I have a personal Facebook account, with a strong public element. It is also possible to subscribe. I use this as perhaps my primary means of communication with friends and acquaintances and I find it the best platform for interacting with the Ivorian web community. I’ve made some great contacts and friends this way. It also allows me to feel in touch with old friends, given that I don’t go back to England very often. I reached the maximum 5,000 followers a year or so ago, and I occasionally have to delete contacts to add new people.

Our Man in Africa – this is my oldest web address, inspired by a friend of mine who worked as a BBC stringer in Bolivia and whose blog was ourmaninbolivia.com. In those days the BBC didn’t look too kindly on private blogging projects and he had to shut it down. That probably also explains why it’s only now that I’m putting something on this site. This website is to bring together all my projects and to offer a sort of official public presence. Most people first come across Ourmaninafrica through my twitter account, where I tweet about Ivory Coast and day-to-day Abidjan life in English and French. There’s also my OMIA flickr page.

Drogbascountry – this is a blog in the ‘traditional’ sense in that it is for long-form musings on Ivory Coast. I chose to put Drogba in the title because in the Anglophone world football (especially Didier Drogba) is the principal way that people have heard of Ivory Coast, so it’s sort of a way in.

Abidjanito – this is a web platform that aims to become the reference for cultural life in Abidjan – a sort of leisure time guide to the city and all that there is to do. I set this up because of the real lack of communication in this domain, especially in English. There’s also a Facebook page and a Twitter account. Abidjan is one of the most pleasant and liveable cities in the region, and yet it’s not on many people’s radar.

Babito Creative – this is an even newer project which will be my sort of stage-name for video projects and perhaps some photographic work as well. Again, it’s just a private non-commercial operation for the time being to give me a platform to publicise some of the DSLR video hobby-projects I’d like to produce. Ivory Coast’s creative folk have really yet to start producing high quality video productions, especially outside the music video genre. Given the high quality photographic work being created by teenagers here, it can only be a matter of time before things change. Babito Creative is on Youtube, Vimeo, Facebook and Tumblr.

ElephantsOnline – this was one of my first web projects. I figured that football was the principal thing that interested anglophones about Ivory Coast, so I set-up this site prior to the 2010 World Cup. I still try to keep it up to date, but it’s not receiving a lot of effort at the moment. There are two versions – in English and French. And a presence on Twitter.

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I’m aware that with all these private non-commercial projects, there’s a risk of not concentrating on work that pays the bills, but I think that’s the advantage of the freelance life. Social networks do provide interesting newsgathering channels and having a web presence has already led to some paid work away from my usual employees. All these projects are at early stages and who knows how things will develop.