Popularity Contest

I love blogging. I do. For me, its a hobby and I enjoy filling my time by writing, reading and watching posts about things that interest me. But quite frankly, recently, some things have really began to piss me off. Don't get me wrong, I love reading everyones blogs; but its the attitude of a small minority that literally makes me scream at my laptop. These are the people, that for some reason, are trying to make this blogging community a popularity contest. And that has never been its purpose. What annoys me is that it has now become normal to 'compete' for followers and do just about anything to get them.

'I'll follow your blog if you follow mine' - Um. No? I'd rather have someone genuinely interested in reading my blog follow than someone who just wants to use it as a stepping stone to make theirs more 'successful'. I'm all for sharing the love, but when its a blatant attempt to plug a blog, it gets peoples backs up.

'Nice pictures. Here's my bloglink' - Thanks. But no thanks. I really don't mind if someone leaves a nice, thoughtful comment and then adds a link, but when its clear they haven't read anything you've said and made zero effort, why should I? Almost everytime someone leaves me a comment, I will reply and check their blog. I love finding new ones, that's why I enjoy blogging so much: because you meet new people, find great blogs and learn about products and things you mightn't have known about before. But begging and harassing will get you nowhere in life. Its social climbing. By interacting with other bloggers on Twitter and other social media, you will do a lot better than if you ask people to follow. Plus, if I want to find your blog I can easily do so by clicking on your name :) And I almost always do. Problem sorted.

'I run a successful blog' - Really? What defines a 'successful blog'? Is it when you reach 100/500/1000 followers? For me, I write about what I enjoy and what interests me. If just one person read it, it would make me happy. And yes, its such a lovely feeling that other people enjoy it and follow, I really appreciate it. But I do it for me. It makes me happy to write, to take nice pictures, to share what products I like and dislike, to write about my life etc. Does that make me successful? Or do I have to have 1000 followers in order to call myself that. Food for thought.

'I don't get free stuff. Boo!' - Yes. Boo. Boo you. If that's the only reason you want to write a blog then its not for the right one. While its nice recognition for a company to contact you about reviewing, its not the bee all and end all. And it doesn't define who you are or how fabulous your blog is. When I have been approached occasionally about reviewing products, I am honestly really really flattered. But I'd never assume I was intitled to anything free. Its nice to try out a product you ordinarily would have not heard of, or bought. But just because it was free doesn't mean it should get a five star rating. Personally, I will always be 100% honest and assume that everyone else is too. Complaining that you don't receive stuff or bragging when you do? Just annoying.

'I'm a beauty/fashion blogger' - Sometimes I have trouble with this word. Kind of like the 'guru' thing on Youtube. I'm not an authority on anything, I just give my opinion and am interested in others views. If I get something wrong, by all means tell me. For practical reasons, I know we have to call ourselves this, eg. for people to find us on Twitter or to understand us better or on Youtube for others to be able to search us. But am I a 'guru'? Hell no. I have a blog. I am one person out of billions who gives her two cents on the internet. I make mistakes, I don't get my makeup perfect everytime, I don't know everything. And to claim that I do would be wrong. But that's just my view. There is a person in my University who on the first day of our drama class introduced themselves as a 'thespian'. No, love. You study drama. Like us all. Awkward. Its kind of the same thing.

What I'm asking is does it really make a difference or make people happy because their blog is 'popular'? Like I've said before some of the best blogs I've come across have had few followers and surpass some of the 'popular' ones. We need to stop obsessing over a little number, because at the end of the day : this is meant to be a fit of fun.

There are millions of things I could ramble about, making this post indecently long. But I'm not going to. I hope this hasn't offended anyone, that was not my intention at all. Like I mentioned above, I love blogging. And the positives definitely outweigh the negatives. It just saddens me that there seem to be some negatives and a minority of people pushing them forward. And I really honestly do appreciate everyone who reads my little rambles on this blog. Fills my little heart with happiness. I just woke up this morning, ranting in my head and thought I would voice it. I'm also on painkillers at the moment for a virus (boo) so this may have influenced this post. But no, its not directed at anyone. Just me, ranting to myself. Have a great day and if you have an opinion leave it below!

Ones to follow: Charlotte Loves, Lizabellys and anyone else in the 'Blogs I Love' section.

 

PS: Couldn't resist the urge to feature my new Canon as the picture! Apologies!