In the past few years, blogging, YouTube and social media have absolutely rocketed in popularity. As a blogger myself, I of course, love having this outlet. My own little place on the internet where I can share what I love, my thoughts, feelings, and just take note of whatever is going on in my brain. It's a journal. It's a diary. It's an extension of my personality. It is an extension if me.
But lately, it has become really concerning to me just how bitchy the blogging community can be. I've mainly stayed out of the way of it. I'm a little bit out of the targeted demographic the YouTube & blogging "Superstars" aim for, and I'm at that age now where if negativity was to ever be aimed at me, I really wouldn't care.
Blogging is all about self-expression. And I am all for that. As long as a post isn't offensive, or could potential cause harm to anybody, I believe that everybody is well and truly entitled to their own opinion. It happens all the time. But because social media seems so up-close and personal, people take these opinions to heart immediately and sometimes far too much. I mean, how well do you really know a person? Bloggers, vloggers and YouTubers alike have made the decision to share a part of themselves with the world. We don't know who is watching. Who is reading. But we are willing to share our thoughts for the pure fact that we love what we do. If we didn't, we wouldn't do it. But just because we upload a blog post, a video,, or a vlog, it doesn't mean that anybody reading or watching truly knows us. Not really.
That's why the nastiness in our honesty upsets me. It sends a bad message. Are we just supposed to follow the flow of opinions and keep ours to ourselves just to keep everybody happy? Aren't we allowed to speak up? Just imagine it. A word where everybody had the same review of a skincare products, loved exact;y the same films, and wore exactly the same clothes....How exciting would that world be?
We as bloggers should be allowed to write in truth and honesty. I am always 100% honest in my writing. Because to be untruthful to your readers is to lie to yourself. And what good would that do? Just because I don't wear the same clothes as you, listen to the same music as you, follow the same YouTubers and blogs as you, doesn't mean I am a horrid person, or my opinions is less valid. It just means I have my own personal taste. And I'm sticking to that.
People are going to disagree. It's human nature. Personalities clash. Opinions differ. And that's okay. We are not all cut from the same cloth. But taking it too far is not okay. It completely defeats the purpose of sharing our thoughts. There is no nee to "gang up," be mean or alienate a blogger or YouTuber just because they have shared their thoughts. I don't particularly like Breaking Bad, 1D or celery.... Am I suddenly going to start getting hate for sharing that piece of me?
If you want to tell us you don't like something we have written, do it tactfully. Don't be bitchy or curse at us. Don't just join in because other people are doing it. Commenting something like "I'm sorry, but I don't agree with you" sounds a lot better than "I don't *&$%£ agree with you." At the end of the day, negativity will only attract negativity. And that is not what blogging is about.
I won't say what started all of these thoughts. But if you know me in person you can probably guess. I woke up at 5am this morning thinking about this post, and how I was going to phrase it, so I hope it now translates onto screen okay. The whole point that I'm trying to make is that it is our right as bloggers or YouTubers to have our own opinion. There is no need to jump on a bandwagon just because everybody else is on there and you don't want to get left behind. Take a different route. It'll make you stand out from the crowd. Don't follow the herd. It is your opinion and your outlook on the world that makes your blog unique.
At the end of the day our opinions on beauty, music, food or fashion may differ. But as bloggers we should embrace this. Because if we all become sheep, the blogosphere would become a very boring place indeed.
