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Tafadzwa Zimoyo Senior Lifestyle Writer

Social media has created more overnight celebrities than reality television shows and movies in the name of influencers, and Africa is fast catching up with its own A-list social media influencers.

The advent of social networking apps like Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and even the most recently popular TikTok has created a soft landing for anyone with the time and consistency to carve a niche and make a name for themselves.

Many can say social media has also opened doors for content creators to be their own bosses, slowly diminishing the relevance of the orthodox talent scouts.

Because the larger world community now has access to the internet, and with the world becoming a global village, brands and organizations have also shifted much of their advertising to social media.

This paradigm shift has led to the rise of what we all know as “social media influencers.”

Again, social media influencers of today can be likened to the movie and music stars that only needed to take a picture with a brand or product for the particular brand or product to get more mileage.

A social media influencer is a person with a large audience who has garnered and held the attention and follower-ship of thousands or millions of fellow social media users and has become like a sort a manual on who to follow and what to buy or who and what to patronize.

A few years ago being a socialite was unheard of.

It was taboo for a woman to pose in lingerie or nearly nude on social media.

But due to modernization, being a socialite has become acceptable.

Saturday Herald on Lifestyle this week caught up with popular radio and television Samantha Musa affectionately known as MisRed who shared her amazing story.

Misred is a game-changer with the distressed at heart. Everything that she touches turns gold.

And that Midas Touch has made her an enemy among fellow socialites and of course the attention-seeking Twelebs.

Unlike other socialites, who can do the unthinkable only to grab headlines, MisRed has been doing the complete opposite.

So passionate about changing the distressed  souls’ lives is MisRed that he can make a huge sacrifice.

In recent months, she has given hope to those in despair by compiling a book while her radio programmes continue to heal bleeding soul.

By merely taking stock of what she has done in the past year, the curvaceous presenter has shown us the other side of her beauty by unveiling a refreshingly new talkshow, “The Tea With MisRed”, which has beenwell received.

She also caters for the policy makers such as captains of industry on her new web series.

The multi-tasking media personality related how she came up with the idea of the talkshow and her dream of changing people’s loves.

“I have always wanted to create a space where we could share our successes and failures as well as celebrate each other’s stories as Zimbabweans.

“I also wanted to share stories from my angle and provoke a culture of understanding before judging, what better time than now,” says MisRed who has gone through a patch in her life.

Although she has just started web series along with her production team Eleven  Dogs Inc, she hasn’t ruled out taking in to the small screen.

She also believes that reinventing it is guaranteed since the world has gone digital.

“Digital is the new way to own your content but I started television my first show being ‘Coke on The Beat’, but having been on television in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Ghana, so I definitely wouldn’t rule it out in the very near future,” says MisRed.

With many of her followers hoping that the web series is likely to be a repetition of her from your normal radio slots if she doesn’t think outside the box, MisRed has a solution.

“Definitely not duplication, On ZiFM Stereo I’m on a drive time show which is predominantly music and entertainment based.

“We don’t talk much because it is also not a talk radio station. But on ‘The Tea With MisRed’ you will find content creators, policy makers, captains of industry, socialites and so much more with very deep hearty conversations that with have you learning and laughing.”

Like any other influencer, MisRed says she is inspired by those who started before her.

“ Interestingly enough, Honourable Supa Mandiwanzira inspires me a lot because he managed to create a media empire having come from television himself and I believe I can also aspire to that level.

Women like Nigerian media mogul Mo Abudu, who has created a multi-million-dollar empire in Africa where movie making isn’t as viable as Hollywood.

“She managed to change the narrative, not just for women in this industry, but the industry as a whole. So their stories inspire my bold approach to a lot of what I do and still intend to do,” says MisRed.

With her new talkshow, MisRed is also keen on giving exposure to other role models.

“I hope to give a platform to new role models, to enhance social consciousness, provoke debate and grow our interest in the different people who make our teapot country tick even when it seems like there is little to celebrate. Let’s celebrate what we can.”

MisRed who is unquestionably one of the most hated characters on social media, reckons she has found a way of handling social media trolls.

“Cyber bullying and fake news are probably one of the biggest but unspoken diseases we are dealing with as a generation.

“On the 3 December 2021, the Data Protection Act was gazetted and came into effect same day.

“This makes me so happy because there is now legal recourse available to everyone when it comes to such things.

“ I have experienced this for some years and the sad thing is it’s become an acceptable norm. I think moving forward it’s important to use all forms of arsenal available to you but I’ve also learnt to reduce my time on social media. Sometimes starving the situation of food is the best way to kill it,” she says.

On her love life  and family, MisRed was blunt.

“Relationships are important for balance sometimes and we are thankful for them.

“Life wise, my two daughters are my greatest achievement, but in terms of my career, I haven’t reached my greatest achievement yet,” she says.

MisRed also opened up about her special relationship with her children.

“My daughters Hannah(12) and Peter Renee(4), are so very independent of me.

“At home there is no MisRed, just mom. But they both have very independent ways of thinking and going about their lives. I wish for them to pursue their own destinies with no pressure to be like me because they are their own people.”

Unlike most of her peers who want to be called socialites, MisRed thinks otherwise.

“I wouldn’t call myself a socialite, I’m a media personality, so I definitely do attend a lot of functions and events because of the nature of my job, but the most difficult thing is finding balance between work family and celebrity life. I’m still in the process of trying to figure it out,” she says.

Outside her busy schedule, MisRed as a way of spending her time.

“I play a lot of golf. I found out that the best way to work out for me was to do something social that I liked that kept me moving.

‘‘And usually by the 18th hole I will have done a fun 10km walk which I found to be easier than going to the gym. Diet wise I drink a lot of water and eat very little starch, I’ve cut down my sugar intake although pancakes are my weakness.”

Given a chance to meet one of her favourite television personality, MisRed said: “I would love to meet Tyler Perry. I love how he turned his passion into a multi-million dollar business when everyone told him that no one was interested in the stories of black people.”