Off the Cuffe
Author Judith Cuffe chats to Niamh O’Reilly about her new book Unfollow Me which lifts the lid on the darker side of social media.
I’m sort of in that happy place on social media”, chimes author Judith Cuffe. “I use it nearly every day, I love it, I think it’s great, but then again I don’t have anywhere near enough followers where I could get criticised and if they do, they certainly don’t say it to me,” she giggles.
Social media is at the heart of Judith’s new book Unfollow Me, which sees her protagonist, model turned influencer Eve Kelly, targeted online with long buried secrets brought to the fore in a thrilling, modern tale.
Unlike her main character in the book who has one million followers on Instagram, sunny and bright Judith is happy to keep things more ‘social’ on her platform. “By its name social media is meant to be social and I think used correctly it can add to our lives and it’s an important way of expressing Judith has grown a dedicated online following of her own, charting her journey into writing, as well documenting her outfits of the day, which is another real passion of hers. “I love colour, putting outfits together and I love getting dressed up”, she declares.
“I’ve just been out for a run though and I’m in horrible old leggings and shoes and that’s what I look like most of the time, but I love getting dressed up and doing hair and makeup.”
This, her fifth novel, is her first proper foray into the realm of the thriller and couldn’t be timelier with a slew of books looking at the inner workings of the world of social media hitting the shelves recently from the likes of Louise O’Neill, Sophie White, Andrea Mara and Dawn O’Porter to name but a few. There is clearly a big appetite for it and Judith made sure to do her homework.
“It’s such a huge part of our lives, but a lot of people on those platforms are highly criticised and what I noticed was that a lot of these critics weren’t sharing stuff themselves. They are what I call ‘the watchers’”, she explains. “And it just kind of sparked an idea. Influencers can get the most horrific time from trolls and people criticising them on these websites that are designed to inflict pain.”
HATE FORUMS
In writing the book, Judith chatted with some well-known Irish influencers about their experiences of being trolled and it made for grim research. It also meant she had to log onto the cesspit of hate forums whose sole purpose is to trash influencers.
“What I read was horrible. I reached out to several Irish influencers and spoke to them, and they were amazing. I looked up forums where these women were criticised and I was shocked” explains Judith. “Everything from their physical appearance, to their weight, their noses, their hair, how they look after their children, their husbands, their marriage.” These lurkers are known to hide behind anonymity and thrive on the vitriol of the darker corners of the internet. “I think they are the most dangerous side of social media, not the influencers.”
Unfollow Me echoes real life calls from public figures on social media for more validation of online users who can be held accountable for their words.
“Sometimes we wait until something awful happens before we make a change and I hope in this case we don’t, I hope it comes sooner, we do have to protect children and a lot of these influencers are young and just finding their feet and having to go through that level of criticism is horrible.”
A busy mum to three children, Martha-Lily 16, Bruce 13 and Gertie 11, Judith is all too aware of the power social media can have, but she’s been very proactive in empowering her kids with the right attitude to deal with it.
“I’m very open with them and I’ve had all the conversations about the risks. I don’t ban them from it because I just think we have to face it”, she admits. “I think because I’m on social media I kind of understand the platforms a bit more than those aren’t. I think as long as your kids are adjusted in real life and realise that this is a filtered version of life, a moodboard of what your life can be, as opposed to what your life actually is.”
SOCIAL SUPPORT
However as much as the book might delve into the darker side of social media, Judith is keen to praise how positive it’s been in her life. She would have loved to tap into the support it offered when she first became a mum at the age of 26. “Back then there were very few baby groups or places I could go to meet other young mums, none of my friends had children, I was the first and I remember it being a really isolating time”, she muses.
“Now there are these groups online and mum's pages on Instagram. I really think I would have benefitted from it during that time when I just felt lost and didn’t know what I was doing with a new infant; even to have a sense of community would have been invaluable.”
Having had previous careers in marketing, it wasn’t until Judith hit her late 30s that she finally realised her writing dream. “I wanted to write my whole life. I thought when I turned 40 my life was going to end, but I realised, actually I’ve a good bit ahead of me! It was the push I needed”, she says.
These days Judith has a happy balance in her life and a good routine of writing in the morning while her three children are in school, but as relaxed and happy as she is, there’s no hiding her absolute delight that her fifth book will be the first to make its way into print.
“It may have happened with my last book, had the pandemic not occurred. But I also feel like this was the one that was meant to go into bookshops, I really put my heart and soul into this and I’m so excited. It’s going to be selfie central!” she laughs. “I said to my friend the other day, will you drive me around all the bookshops? Looking at my name on the cover I keep thinking ‘is that really me, did I do that?’”
Unfollow Me by Judith Cuffe is published By Poolbeg Crimson and is out 20 July
“In the strangest way it’s been the biggest surprise of my life and as long as I keep thinking of it that way, I’ll keep writing.”
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