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!

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Weighing On My Mind

Maybe its the emergence of the sun and summer months, but recently weight has become a major issue for me. Before now, I'd never really paid attention to calories and fat intake, but over the last while it has become somewhat of an obsession for me. Despite my friends and family's protests that I haven't put on any weight, honestly, I feel a bit shit. And in one way, I know they're right.

Weight has never been a big issue for me, while I do sometimes fluctuate, in reality I've probably never been heavier than a size ten. Small, right? I've probably only put on a few pounds, yet to me, I seem massive. All my clothes still fit, and I can even order size 6 in some things, so whats my problem?

To be honest, I don't know. I just don't feel right. And don't get me wrong, I eat. A good amount. Three meals a day plus snacks. Its the groggy, always full feeling that upsets me. I feel guilty when I'm hungry. In fact, I feel guilty eating. I worry that I will keep putting on weight. While I may have only put on a few pounds, I only have one niggling negative that I think about. My stomach. Were it toned I would be happy. But its lost that, and I feel massive compared to everyone else. And I know its crazy, but I can't help it. And seeing beautiful women in magazines doesn't help. No matter what we say, they do affect us.

After asking around a few of the girls, almost all of them have some problem to do with their bodies, be it wanting to be thinner, have longer legs, to be more toned or to look radiant all the time. So at least I'm not alone in this quest to perfection. But why are we like this? Surely we should realise that everyone looks different. It seems that all men want is to put weight on, while all women want to lose it. Why? Are we happier in the long run because we've lost a few pounds? Or do we just feel happy in the moment and then shove a muffin into our faces?

And why are we never happy? While my weight hasn't changed much, its made me feel a bit down about myself. If a friend came to me with this problem, I wouldn't see a difference in them. Yet I'm being hard on myself, which is a problem universal with women. Maybe instead of focussing on weight, we should focus on what we eat. Its so easy to order pizza or chinese, but usually we feel crap after it. So from now on I;m going to try to eat healthly, as as much as I want without feeling guilty. What we need to realise is that slip-ups are okay whether it be chocolate, takeaways or drink. I just need to realise this too.

Food for thought?

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