By Megan Thomas
Lucky me – I had a copy of Oenone Forbat’s memoir in my goodie bag after the Nota Bene Prize ceremony, which I attended with nb magazine and which she hosted. I gobbled it up in about 24 hours, it was fascinating and moreish.
It of course makes sense that Forbat has such a knack for storytelling, given that she is well known as a podcaster, comedian and influencer – a trifecta which famously keep their audiences hooked. The memoir is, for the most part, about the latter (influencer) and how it led to the former (podcaster, comedian). That said, it also focuses largely on her desire to not be known as just an influencer. This isn’t because she doesn’t like what she does, or thinks what she’s sharing is valuable, but rather because of the connotations that surround social media ‘influencing’.
Nowadays, in the age of the Tinder Swindler, Anna Delvey, and Fyre Festival, to name a few examples, it is not surprising that the online influencing world is under such scrutiny. But Forbat entered the scene slightly earlier than that, in that bizarre and unique period before Instagram and influencing in general really exploded (sort of like the start of the era we’re in now with TikTok), so her perspective is that of someone who, remarkably, was not actually trying to become an influencer.
This all started after a toxic relationship and subsequent breakup in Forbat’s first year at Cardiff University, and it has seen her through her twenties, making the byline, “Reflections of a life lived online”, an astute one. I suspect Forbat and I are about the same age (I even went to Cardiff, though for my MA, so I wouldn’t have been on #ChippyLane at the same time), and I can say with some confidence that I have lived so much life, and changed/reevaluated who I am and what I want to do so many times in this period. So, to have had it documented to (and analysed by) hundreds of thousands of followers is not something to take lightly. I really enjoyed reading about her experiences, and how she’s learning to separate herself and her talents (podcaster, comedian, social commentator) from the binary stigmas that can come from influencing professionally.
Unquestionably modern problems require youthful and attentive dissection. Frankly, I don’t care what old people who just don’t get it have to say about it all – especially those under the impression that social media is totally separable from ‘real’ life, which our generation knows to be untrue. Bad Influence is evidence to me that Forbat is just the person to do it thoughtfully and candidly, right when we need it most.
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