It is hard to believe that more than a week has passed since càrn was at the Mòd.
Last Wednesday, we got the opportunity to travel to Perth for the Mòd to showcase càrn as part of Latha Litreachais.
The aim of this project is to showcase and celebrate the strength and richness of the Gaelic digital community by showcasing user-generated content. We were were joined by some Gaelic content creators to showcase the project: Mark (@the_cooksmith), Rachel (@craic_le_kellow), Sorley (@s0mhairle) and myself, Lauren (@oiseanlauren).
The busy theatre was filled with a mix of different ages, and it was a great opportunity to showcase càrn to a new audience and to speak in general about Gaelic on social media. Thanks also to those who sent us questions to answer on the day. Here are some highlights.
1) Why did you start creating content in Gaelic?
For most of the content creators, their content came out of lockdown, when they had some spare time to showcase their hobbies and were looking for more opportunities to use Gaelic.
They quickly realised that there was a strong, supportive community and with that, they carried on creating content post lockdown. Sorley (@s0mhairle) said that he put up one video in Gaelic and it went ‘viral’, and this gave him the confidence to create more Gaelic content.
2) Is it important to see Gaelic on social media, why?
Rachel (@craic_le_kellow) is a high-school teacher, and she said that her pupils use social media often, so it is important to see Gaelic being showcased in a ‘natural’ way like this and that we use Gaelic as a language for communication, and not just something you hear in school or see on the TV/radio.
3) What opportunities have arisen from creating content in Gaelic?
The content creators all said that they have met new friends through their accounts, and have had many opportunities. Amongst these, Mark (@the_cooksmith) said that he is now radio presenter, as a result of people seeing his presence on social media.
4) What are the challenges that come with creating content in Gaelic?
Everyone agreed that the biggest challenges are time and technology. Each content creator present also works full-time, and they said it can be challenging to find the time to create content when they are busy. On top of creating content, editing and adding subtitles also take time. At the moment, there is no software that can help make this easier in Gaelic, like there is in English.
5) What would you say to someone who is thinking of creating Gaelic content?
Rachel kept it simple, saying: “Just do it!” and people will support and encourage you. Sorley said that you don’t need to create a whole new Gaelic account to create content, and it is just as important to make small changes such as adding a bilingual caption on your personal posts, and your confidence will grow little by little.
It was great to meet people from the audience afterwards and hear their opinions about the project and the road ahead for Gaelic on social media. A big thanks again to the people who came to watch us, the people who messaged and asked questions, to the content creators and the Royal National Mòd who helped us to pull this together.
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