Specimen2010–2015
Contacts — Personal Messages11
CChidi ✔~*~ On A LonG ThinG ~*~
AAi$ha ♛GOD WHEN 😩
TTeeBoyBusy...Don't Ping
IIfy Baby~It Is WeLL o
SSeyi Sparkle~ MiSsInG SoMeOnE ~
AAunty NgoziTO GOD BE THE GLORY
KKelvin_XtraS0mE PeOpLe WiLL JuSt LeArN
BBlessing.O×÷× LoAdInG ×÷×
DDJ KayceeN3W MiXtApE OuT NoW
EEmeka JnrNa So Life Be
TTolu ✈»» In TrAnSiT ««
To operateType anything in plain English. The generator will render it correctly, and you can wear it.
2010–2015
Absorbed into WhatsApp About lines.
A subtweet before there were subtweets.
Under every BlackBerry contact sat one line of free text, and Nigerians turned it into a literary form: alternating caps, tildes, hearts, scripture, and a grievance aimed at exactly one person who would know. The Personal Message was public, permanent until you changed it, and never explained.
On the record
- Sat directly beneath your name in everyone's contact list — unavoidable, unlike a feed post.
- Changing it pushed an update into every contact's list, so edits were an event.
- Alternating capitals and symbol borders were the house style, copied phone to phone.
- Almost always aimed at one reader while addressed to none.
What people said
~AwaiTinG My BoAe~Busy...Don't PingGod whenLoading...It is well