A talk with Warren Lodge, owner of a small media enterprise in Cape Town, South Africa and an activist.
Warren uses social media to support impoverished communities and generate funding. Furthermore, he is a cyclist and values the cycle not only as a mode of transport, but to create opportunities, not only economic ones.
Listen to his talk.
That is a really interesting interview because it deals with the role of promoting interests of people on a community level. It shows, that social media can also play a positive role by bringing people together and supporting each to reach goals that
they strive for.
First of all, I love the graphics here! The half-static video is nice to watch while listening to your interview with Warren Lodge. Well done!
The interview provides nice insights into Warren’s work and how social media can be used to amplify the voices of people in local communities who are often not heard. I appreciate that this is a short interview and understand if you didn’t have time to ask more questions. Yet, I miss a question where you ask Warren to reflect on potential issues with using social media for the type of communication he works with. According to Statista, just above 60% of South Africa’s population have access to the Internet. I’m thinking that there might be some issues related to that not everyone who is interviewed by Warren and his team has access to the Internet and can view the material once it’s published online. I’d also be curious to learn what languages they use in their communication (if it’s only English or some of the multiple other languages spoken in South Africa as well.)
In the end, you say “as always, it was very nice meeting you,” this makes me curious about how you know Warren. It is, of course, nothing wrong to interview someone you have previously worked with or have any other type of previous relationship with, but for the sake of transparency, I think it would be nice if you had included a short mentioning of how you came in contact with Warren in the intro.
Thank you for your insightful comments.
In my experience the statistics about net connectivity are wrong, since they don’t show the real picture: Nearly everybody in marginalised communities in SA has got a phone and access to the net. I remember that I met children, cow-herders, in the middle of the mountains in Lesotho, dressed in the usual gear of the poorest, in rubber boots with blankets around their shoulders. They had just accessed Facebook on their phone and were very proud about being able to do that.
Yes, the question of languages is interesting. I will question him…The majority of people in Western Cape speak Afrikaans and English. Warren does so as well.
That would have been a good intro: I met Warren in a design conference in Langa, Cape Town about 1.5 years ago. Our paths have crossed ever since and we have worked and are working together on different projects in which social media and video is involved.