Social media as professional resume
TV personality Nina Nadira shares with Amalina Kamal her thoughts
01
WHERE DO YOU SOURCE FOR INSPIRATION?
I am naturally drawn to motion-captured visuals and anything that has to do with music — so obviously YouTube and social media are my go-to platforms. The type of videos I love to watch include singing auditions and interesting renditions of songs. Check out Lianne La Havas (@liannelahavas). She is really awesome — I got a chance to watch her perform live as the opening act for Coldplay in Melbourne — and her voice is amazing. Conor Maynard (@conormaynard) is also another artiste to check out. What’s great is that he
got his big break thanks to YouTube.
02
IN WHAT WAY HAS SOCIAL MEDIA
EMPOWERED OUR WORK?
For people in the entertainment industry, like myself, social media is viewed like a professional resume/portfolio that puts us in a more advantageous position to obtain job opportunities. I view the accounts that I create as information mediums (much like newspapers and magazines) for those
interested to keep up to date with my activities. What makes social media great is that account holders get more control at sharing updates — both content and frequency — and see the public responses
instantly.
03
WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF INFLUENCERS?
Influencers are serious in what they do. If not they wouldn’t be putting so much effort to ensure that their post gets the ideal number of reactions. Their duties take a lot of strategy — everything is planned from staging the visuals down to the captions — especially when they are paid by clients.
04
DO YOU SEE YOURSELF AS AN INFLUENCER?
It depends on the context. The word “influencer” carries huge responsibilities and the roles that come with it vary. That said, in my professional work, I do see myself as a public figure. Being in the public eye, the most
important trait is to always be mindful of respect — be driven for the right reasons. Sometimes you even have to put in a little bit more effort than usual by engaging with people. I evaluate the things I say and do because I want to leave a lasting impression. Some personalities are in it for fame and that is why you get arrogant/superficial
characters.
05
HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED ANY SOCIAL MEDIA
NIGHTMARES?
Well, my Instagram was hacked last year... I got blocked from my own account. Not only that, a year’s worth of my uploads were permanently deleted. All the memories gone. What happened was I got a fake Instagram alert through email regarding my profile settings. It was quite foolish of me to blindly follow the instructions without checking. So after I clicked on a few links, I was locked out of my profile within minutes. It was quite disastrous because I relied on social media for a number of work engagements so you can imagine the stress. It was a friend, singer Hafiz Hamidun, who helped me to retrieve my profile by linking me to the real Instagram security team which got it running again after a password reset. Take it from me, always be consciously aware of the
decisions you make when you go online.
06
NAME ONE DIGITAL APPLICATION THAT YOU THINK IS
PURE GENIUS.
I am really impressed with Samsung’s Smart View application which allows you to turn your phone into a remote control. My husband is really into all this tech stuff. I am always bewildered at his finds. I love it honestly
because it opens my eyes to the digital world.
07
WHAT IS THE PRICE WE PAY WHEN WE ARE TOO
ATTACHED TO TECHNOLOGY?
Firstly, technology is powerful at improving the way we live but we need to also take into account that it can turn us into slaves, digitally hooked on tools that the modern
world can’t seem to live without. I hope that we don’t completely lose our morals as an advanced society. Digital
users tend to get carried away when they are online. Sometimes netizens irrationally fight among one another on foolish matters. It is one of the reasons I refrain from
reading comments on social media.
Being in the public eye, the most important trait is to always be mindful of respect.
Nina Nadira