Former AIDS Ambassador and actress Joyce Dzidzor Mensah has reached her breaking point, taking a bold stand against the relentless negativity she has endured at the hands of the blogging community.
Fed up with watching bloggers sensationalize and exploit her struggles for clicks and web traffic, Joyce is now demanding a shift in the way these digital commentators operate.
In an interview with Graphic Showbiz on Sunday, August 11, 2024, Ms Mensah opened up about the never-ending bullying and harassment she has endured at the hands of bloggers. She is calling for a revolution in the industry, urging bloggers to change their ways and focus on positivity.
She shared her frustrations about how some bloggers consistently overlooked her positive endeavours such as her acting and music career and collaborations with legendary artistes such as Ivorian music icon Freddy Meiway and rather focused on amplifying controversies and scandals that had detrimental impact on her life and reputation.
“Social media bloggers are mostly interested in negative news because that’s what sells and they hardly support new talents. If we could all support new talents and not only dwell on negative news always, that would help our industry.
“This has to stop. If we want to see the growth we desire in our industry, our bloggers must learn to limit the way they fuel negativity. Even with issues that are not big, they escalate them, which is not fair, especially to us. It takes a toll on us heavily”, she said.
Ms Mensah passionately voiced her concerns about how the creative industry was being undermined by bloggers who prioritized sensationalism over upliftment. She is now advocating for a more mindful approach, where bloggers consider the impact of their words on the lives of creatives and focus on promoting positivity and good news.
Shifting her attention to her budding music career, Ms Mensah shared insights into collaborating with established artistes. She said her debut single Tatata featured the legendary Ivorian musician Freddy Meiway, but believed that such collaborations, while beneficial, were not the only path to success in the music industry.
In her opinion, the fast development and popularity of social media had levelled the playing field, giving new and emerging artistes the chance to leverage these platforms to showcase their talent and connect with a large fan base without relying solely on collaborations with popular musicians.
To her, social media has democratized the music industry, providing a level playing field for new and emerging artistes to showcase their talent and connect with audiences worldwide.
“Making it big in music doesn’t solely depend on collaborations. Collabo is just an aspect of the art. These days, the digital media system has a way of favouring any type of music. Breakthroughs can come from any angle. New media has brought out numerous talents that were hidden for long, making the competition very tight.
“Unlike in the past where one could just pay a radio station to promote their songs. Nowadays, you could invest huge sums of money into music promotion and before it gets any attention, someone would also release something hotter than yours on social media and overtake yours,” she said.