Ruby Edwards

Ruby Edwards is a New Zealand media entrepreneur and a co-founder of Shit You Should Care About (SYSCA), the social-first media platform created to make news, politics, culture and global issues feel more accessible to younger audiences.

Edwards co-founded SYSCA in 2018 alongside her childhood friends Lucy Blakiston and Olivia Mercer, while the three were studying at Victoria University of Wellington, where Edwards majored in international relations. The platform began as a WordPress blog before growing into a global media brand followed by millions.

The idea started simply. In a Denizen interview, the founders described how Blakiston texted the group to suggest they start something where they could discuss anything people should care about, whether pop culture or the environment. Their guiding philosophy was “best friends first, project comes second”, and that closeness shaped a voice readers trusted.

The early strength of SYSCA came from its point of view. It did not try to sound like traditional media; it spoke with the tone of a smart friend who had read the news, understood the context and could explain why it mattered without making the reader feel out of place. As part of the founding team, Edwards helped shape a brand that sat between journalism, commentary, culture and community, giving younger audiences a way to stay informed without separating world events from their interest in music, internet culture, identity and everyday life.

Edwards served as SYSCA’s commercial director, managing brand partnerships and article submissions alongside the editorial work. Her international relations background gave the platform a grounding in geopolitics that complemented Blakiston’s editorial instincts and Mercer’s design sensibility.

SYSCA’s growth showed that media did not have to be built from a newsroom to matter. A clear voice, consistent publishing and deep audience understanding could create trust at scale and the platform became especially relevant during periods of global uncertainty, when young people wanted information that felt clear, emotionally aware and easy to share.

Edwards stepped away from SYSCA in its later years to pursue other opportunities abroad, leaving the platform she helped create in the hands of co-founder Lucy Blakiston.

Her profile belongs on Noteworthy because she was part of a founding team that helped reframe what modern media could look like from New Zealand. SYSCA was not built by copying legacy news; it was built by understanding how people actually consume, discuss and share information online, a reminder that trust is created not only through authority, but through tone, consistency, relevance and community.

Sources: The Spinoff · The Denizen · Capsule · CNBC