GirlGuides speaks Dr. Sarah Britten, the multifaceted Y&R digital communications strategist, author, blogger, artist and (newly appointed) Evoque City Shaper.

The Beginning of a Technological Affair

“I registered on Facebook in early 2007, when South Africans first really discovered Facebook… In fact, the firsttime I really got involved with being online was in 2001 when I worked at Hunt Lascaris. I often had to work late, or at least sit around and wait for my boss to finish working, and she would keep me there until past midnight. Sitting and waiting, I got sucked into the Mail & Guardian forums. I was registered there for about 9 years and some of the people I met; I’m still friends with today.

“This is where I first discovered the power of being online and connecting with people. That is what keeps us there – it is the possibility of connecting with others.”

“Sometimes for our own sanity we need to disconnect. Technology is an enabler, it’s not an end in itself and it shouldn’t be.”

Being a Brand Ambassador

"It’s the best blogging gig in South Africa and its great because this particular campaign takes social media seriously. It’s fantastic to be able to drive this car around – I love my car so much, it’s my favourite place. I’ll use my iPod to play U2 really loudly and I’ll have my aircon up high and love being in my own, sealed little mobile world… I’m very lucky, very fortunate to be involved.”

Check out Range Rover Evoque SA on Facebook or follow them on Twitter: @EvoqueSA

The Art of Lipstick

'I paint with lipstick. It’s something I want to get into more because I love art but you cannot keep on drawing stuff unless you selling it. That’s one of my ambitions for this year.”

“I go to fleamarkets to find weird colours and I am always hovering around Dischem and Clicks. It is an expensive habit to have, so I try to be clever about what I buy and I do get donations from people.”

“It started in 2002, my ex-husband (an architect) was in London looking for work and I was on my own, on a sabbatical to finish my PhD. Architects use thick, shiny cardboard – called triplex – to build models with. All this cardboard was lying around and somehow one thing led to another… I started with chilies and apples, things that are red. With lipstick you are kind of limited in the colour palette that you can use.”

Doctor… Doctor?!

“I have a doctorate in applied English language studies from Wits, which is a bit of a mouthful, and I wrote my thesis on advertising and nation-building in post-Apartheid South Africa.”

Making Academia Stylish

“I’ve written five books – three of them are collections of South African insults. Earlier, in the 90s, I wrote a couple of books for youth readers for the Sanlam Youth Literature Prize… I came second twice.”

“At the moment I am re-reading J.M. Coetzee. I re-read Disgrace every now and again and I’ve also just read Freedom by Johnathan Franzen. Because I’m writing novels, so I’m trying to read other people’s writing so I get a sense of how to tell a story. 

“I don’t think as a country we respect academic qualifications enough, we don’t respect thoughtfulness enough,we’re so interested in what some minor celebrity is doing that we don’t really engage with issues in a deep and meaningful way. But that is true across the world, we’d much rather read about Lindsay Lohan than what some French philosopher is saying.” 

Living Online: Twitter and Tweeting

“I discovered Twitter in March 2009 – it was fairly small then. At the time I was living in Australia and that is why my Twitter handle is @anatinus. People are mystified by this, but it is from Ornithorhynchus anatinus which is the duck-billed platypus.

"I couldn’t have my own name when I tried to register so it was the first thing I thought of. I’ve been evangelising social media ever since...”

“I was with Tweetdeck and then it just died. On my phone right now, I am using Safari to access Twitter!”

How do you like them Apples?

“I have a (smashed) iPhone so I’m always connected. I feel sad every time I look at that screen because it is going to be very expensive to repair! I’ve been dropping phones all my life and I have always gotten away with it. But this time, finally, I dropped it in the wrong way and I am being punished for all those phones I abused over the years.”

“I have Echofon on my iPad and it works quite well. We all work with Macs in this agency and I’ve worked with Macs pretty much my entire life (it’s unusual) so I can’t use anything else. I’ve been brainwashed.” 

“On the iPad, I love The Economist app. I’ve been a dedicated Economist reader for a long time and that’s my favourite app. I was also addicted to LOL Cats at a point…”

Gadgetitis

“The iPhone is the one device that I can’t live without. The prospect of losing my phone terrifies me! I still use old-fashioned things like SMS and I occasionally have a conversation with somebody – it’s quite extraordinary. I have conversations with one of my friends who hates social, who can’t bear being online so you still get people you are forced to communicate with in the old-fashioned way.”