Nairaland: Six Ways The Forum Has Proved Super Useful

Nairaland. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone with internet access who has never heard of this site. Nay, hearing about the site is given; a more plausible move would be to check the number of Nigerians with internet access who have never visited Nairaland before. Nairaland is that massive. Founded by Seun Osewa in 2005, the site has gone beyond just being a forum, it has become part of the culture of Nigeria. An internet culture. Some would argue that Nairaland has lost its power with the advent of Twitter and blogs, but as this post would prove, Nairaland is very important and still relevant.

Here are six ways Nairaland has proved super reliable.

It’s Nigerian’s first social media site

The Social Media era in Nigeria began with Nairaland. Nairaland was the go-to site for browsers looking to connect with people, chat, swap gossip and banters, and generally catch “cruise”. Social Media influencer marketing which has been become a big deal began with Nairaland where some accounts would amass huge followings and views in six figures.

The idea of going viral also began here as your post could get quoted so many times. Getting to the home page, too, was reverberating to content and posters. Nairaland is the site where future Social Media bigwigs tasted blood which drove them to the wires when Facebook and Twitter became an item.

Seun Osewa’s forum is a Nigerian history book

Whatever history you want, of whatever ethnicity, sub-group, of whatever period, Nairaland is the place of call. Of course, a library is a good place to try but no one library can boast of books that cover the history of every tribe in Nigeria. Nairaland comes very close. And you don’t have to take my words for it. Google your sub-group with Nairaland eg Ikwerre history Nairaland or Arochukwu history Nairaland.

The accuracy of these histories area little biased (which historical perspective isn’t?) and combative and may be badly written but it is there all the same and sometimes, the comment box helps to correct notions.

Nairaland is a crime detention machine

Name any internet fraud you can think of, be it emails from a pastor in Sierra Leone who rescued a refugee with access to abandoned gold, or a white journalist who has unearthed a warlord loot and needs help to evacuate it, or a dead millionaire who left a lot of money behind without a next of kin, or a car promo that would gift you a car for a couple of thousands, or a bonanza you have won and must claim ASAP, someone has already analyzed it on Nairaland.

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Even the mail/message they sent to you is on Nairaland verbatim. All you need to do is copy a few of the lines and paste them on Google and Google would fetch you posts where Nairalanders have trashed this issue in the past. Each post is full of comments further explaining the fraud, sometimes with the scar of their victimhood to support their claim.

When email fraud became popular, one thing seriously worked against them, Nairaland. Phone frauds have succeeded when they did because the victims were so greedy that they ignored the red signs, that they forgot to check Nairaland

Nairaland is a massive marketplace

All manner of products, from a copywriting course to remedies for sleeplessness, bed bugs, and quick ejaculations, have thrived on Nairaland. This trade has a dangerous outlook as you could be sold fake products or nothing in exchange for your money. Seun Osewa and his team fought hard to rid Nairaland of scammers with relative success. While scammers remained, the legitimate vendors build bases which they later took to Facebook and Whatsapp. Many made millions.

Today, the market value of the forum has dropped but it is still useful as digital products and bloggers in search of traffic/backlinks continue to knock on its timeless door.

Nairaland makes freelancing navigatable 

If you have ever been involved with freelancing, you would appreciate its power as a source of frustration. This is large because we live in Nigeria, a country where many foreign marketplaces feel uncomfortable having Nigerians on their platform. Because of their hustling spirit, Nigerians push and attach themselves to these platforms.

The next problems are heart-aching, as they have a lot weighed between verifications and cashing out. Most times, Nigerians have to tread the thin line between breaking their terms of service and hoping on Mother Luck. The good thing with whatever problem you may have with Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, someone in Nigeria has passed through it and came out bruised but kicking on. You find them on Nairaland.

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Most of the time, the cause of your headache has been covered by tens of topics and you just need to go through the threads to solve your problem. In the rare case that your case is different and seemingly impossible, you can start your own thread by asking the house a question.

Nine out of ten times, you leave Nairaland with your problem solved.

The forum founded internet savagery

Many people live for the violence on social media. Jibes, clampdowns, clapbacks, and outright insults usually directed at or between celebrities (or between fans on celebrities’ comment boxes) have made blogs famous just for sharing them with hungry fans. This savagery didn’t start today. In the 2000s and up to the early 2010s until Facebook and Twitter became very popular, Nairaland was where many go to for a taste of blood.

While the forum no longer holds the power to ridicule as it used to, the skeletal remains of its victims remain prominently on its archive. For your feeding pleasure any day you stumble on them or someone does then shares the debris of wrecked hearts on Twitter or Whatsapp.

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