A year of good stuff on Academia Nomad
01 January 2024
KEITH JACKSON
NOOSA – Academic and writer Michael Kabuni says 2023 was a good year for his always interesting blog, Academia Nomad, from which PNG Attitude occasionally plunders an especially insightful piece.
Michael’s now taken advantage of year’s end to review which of his posts were particularly enjoyed by readers. His yardstick was how many times readers shared a post with others, a good metric – after all you don’t usually share a piece if it’s absolute rubbish.
“It’s been an active year on Academia Nomad, especially the Facebook page,” writes Michael.
Here are the top five Facebook pages that went viral.
1. Snax / Em Nau Biscuit - 477 people shared this post when the popular biscuit company almost shut down.
2. Investing in BSP Kina is Simple - 463 shares of a piece showing the steps to follow to make the investment.
3. K10,300 Phone - the extraordinary price of just one iPhone 15 Promax took away the breath of 415 readers.
4. K6 million in expenses for King Charles’ coronation - 228 shares of a post on one of the most controversial events of the year when PNG sent a planeload of people to London to an event Prime Minister Marape chose not to attend. Instead he sent Minister for Having Fun With Family & Friends, Justin Tkatchenko.
5. Why is PNG so Uninformed and Out of Touch? – A story about a high level meeting in which the Prime Minister of Fiji sat on the floor when he met with the PNG Governor General, who chose to sit on a chair (188 shares).
Michael writes that the funniest post of the year for readers was Wilson Punim’s ‘Solwara i silip sore’, which drew close to 1,000 reactions.
The most controversial post was ‘No thunder, just rain’, a hard look at PNG’s mainline churches and their contribution to human development in the country.
A piece on the best places to visit in PNG gave: readers the opportunity to cast a vote – Kavieng in New Ireland, Tufi in Oro Province and Pokpok Island in Bougainville topped the poll.
The best response to a call to action came after Justin Tkatchenko branded Papua New Guineans “primitives” when he came under fire for the K6 million coronation funfest.
Michael thoughtfully included a template letter and instructions on how to lodge complaints to the Ombudsman Commission.
Readers found the most useful post of the year to be a list of media platforms in the Pacific Islands that pay freelance writers whose contributions they accept for publication.
It’s that kind of relationship that Michael builds with his readers.
“It’s been a great year on Academia Nomad,” he says. And who could disagree with him.
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