Let's Talk About Blog Hate

I've been toying with the idea of writing this post for a few weeks now but something prompted the cogs to set back in motion yesterday and while a lot of people said it may be a bad idea to post this, I think it has to be said. I've noticed that more and more people have a lot of problem with particular aspects of blogging which at times I think we all have. While blogging may be used by some as a hobby, as a portfolio of their work to get a step up in their desired field of work or as a business we're all here for whatever reason that may be and we all put effort and dedication into not only maintaining our blogs and their content but also the behind the scenes aspects such as photography, ideas, PR and marketing, social media and so on. It can be frustrating when you spend a lot of time and effort writing, editing and so on to get no ounce of recognition in return and we all vent those frustrations in different ways but does it really need to be via blogger on blogger hate?

Oversaturation is an issue with blogging. I've been reading blogs since 2004-5 and rediscovered blogs in 2011 with the rise of YouTube and blog posts that looked more like pages from a magazine written by a friend. Those bloggers chose the optimum time to launch their content, build their content and following and write about their desired topics and when marketing agencies caught on to the power the blogger holds over the consumer it became a business. Most blogs were hobby blogs long before they become monetised and the blogger became self-employed. Some big bloggers still have career plans outside of full-time blogging that they are watering the roots of with the content they publish right now. Just because a blog became big or a blogger became a guru or style icon doesn't mean that they're not regular, lovely people who just happen to earn money from the brands they promote, the adverts in their sidebar and the content they publish. I don't believe people like this are selling out or in the very rife idea that if you love something you have to do it for free as proof of this. I also don't believe that most big bloggers are stuck up and only respond to people who have a similar amount of followers as them.

To start with, bloggers have cliques because they've met these bloggers at events or online, shared similar interests and have become friends. It's not about getting in with them it's about their friendship. Bloggers who blog full-time are also very busy as they have a life excluding their blog, sometimes a job or internship on top, other hobbies plus their commitments to maintaining their blog, providing content, photographing or filming that content, editing that content, publishing, social media and so on before you even get to e-mails from business contacts. If they weren't active on social media everyone would complain but if they are and they don't respond to everything they're labelled stuck up. They really can't win. Being self-employed is hard work as it is without 20,000 followers and a shower of replies every time you Instagram a photo or tweet that you have to read. Can you imagine what that's like with a million people? Three million? We should be giving these women credit for the fact that they've seized an opportunity that I'm sure we all would if it came along and built something from nothing. They're all mostly young, they pay their way and they provide fantastic, consistent content for FREE.

The hot topic on the #lbloggers chat Sunday evening was giveaways. I saw an alarming amount of people saying that it's akin to buying followers, that the followers from giveaways aren't real followers that you've earned and that doing giveaways basically devalues your blog and they would only ever do one to give back to their readers. Fantastic. Do that. However many companies provide products for giveaways and it's a mutual benefit for both the blogger and brand. It also opens your blog to readers who may not have stumbled by before because there's something in it for them and everyone likes the chance to win free things. They may follow for the prize but many don't unfollow afterwards and you could acquire new readers. Giveaways don't have to mean buying your followers and it doesn't mean you lose your integrity. If you don't like giveaways don't have them on your blog and don't enter them but don't say what others should or shouldn't do. There are no right and wrongs only personal preferences and choices. If it's truly to give back to existing readers remove the follow option completely from giveaways and take inventory of your current followers so no new people can slip through the cracks.

Another irk for some is the fact that people get paid to blog. Yes. They do. I earn some money from my blog but that doesn't make me a sell out nor would it if I were to gain 10,000 followers overnight and have people hanging off my every word. I may get sent products to feature or review but I will always state my true opinion and people seem to doubt this with bigger bloggers like they don't tell the whole truth in every post. Maybe they do? How do you know? Are you just grasping at straws because every make up product was sent by the company to feature? In my experience 90% of high end make up products do their job and serve their purpose even if they're not exactly to my taste in colouring or texture. It seems like because people get paid for it it's all about the money, all about the business and so on and it takes away their integrity. I don't believe that it does. Does it take away the integrity of a tech review website if they write about every product they're sent? Nobody complains about that but because the majority of big bloggers are twenty something women they are suddenly put under interrogation. Stop.

Let's not pretend this isn't a numbers game. We all love that email that tells us we've got one new comment or a handful of new followers. I did a little squeak (aloud) when I hit 1000 followers and I'll continue to do so at every follower because I'm grateful people read what I write, that people stop here and enjoy the space or feel they want to talk about it and share. I don't believe that will go away at 1,100 or 2,000 and so on if I ever get there. If we could all be popular bloggers without compromising our morals and beliefs I'm sure we would but turning on each other when there are people more successful is terrible.

So I propose we don't. I propose we leave comments on the posts we love, tweet the bloggers we love even if they don't reply to let them know how much we liked a post or a photo and aspire to be great in our own blogs by constantly improving, challenging and expanding. Maybe we'll never get to 5,000 followers but we can say we had a corner of the internet that people wanted to read and that in itself is lovely. Turn down the posts you don't feel comfortable with, do your own thing, give honest opinions and put yourself out there in every way because the should and shouldn'ts of blogging not only don't matter but don't exist. Whether every post is sponsored or you pay for every single thing yourself it does not make you above the person who is the opposite of you. Whether the person blogs as a job or as a hobby they love it does not make you better than them because you love it more. This is not a competition, everyone can express opinions on what they do with their own channel or website and say what they like and dislike about others but don't make it personal and don't use some kind of entitlement to back up the fact you're putting other people down for their choices. Let's make this about each to their own, click off what we hate and big up the ones that we love because every blog has an audience and that makes it meaningful and wonderful.