But in my years of blogging and blog reading, I've noticed something: I'm a terrible "blogger."
Why the quotation marks? Well, because I'm pretty good at the actual blogging part. I went to journalism school. I know I can write, I know I can come up with content ideas, I know I can take a decent photo. But there seem to be a whole lot of trends and unwritten rules in the blogging community, and in those respects, I'm severely lacking.
Hashtag bedhead, hashtag no makeup.
+ Every big blogger seems to have an apartment that 1) lets in obscene amounts of sunlight, 2) is entirely white and expertly decorated in a minimalist style, and 3) has only extremely quirky, mod-looking furniture. And even if a blogger doesn't have one or more of these things, they'll make it known that they want it. Excuse me, have you ever sat in those aesthetically-pleasing chairs? They are not comfortable. Have you ever owned all-white everything? White gets super dirty, super fast. I see nothing appealing in the thought of trying to maintain this aesthetic. My apartment is decorated in shades of brown and beige and black, with the comfiest couch on earth, and I'm in love with all of it. I want my home to feel cozy and comfortable and lived-in, not sterilized and bright enough to make you squint.
My roommate gets literally all the decorating/furnishing credit, but wouldn't you want to move into an apartment that looks like this?!
+ I don't have any of those stereotypically cute blogger accessories. My planner does have some gold foil on the front, but I got it from Target; it's not Erin Condren or any of those other expensive "It" brands. I own a grand total of zero monogrammed things. My travel coffee mug is green and stainless steel. There are no fresh flowers in my home. My roommate is a candle fiend, but I'm not. I don't have a desk, or any white surfaces to take those aesthetic-y, perfectly staged pictures on.
I tried.
+ I don't obsess over Instagram. I know, that's the social media that I'm "supposed to" be obsessed with, but it takes so much effort! I'd much rather send a quick tweet than spend five minutes picking a photo, cropping it, adjusting brightness and contrast, wondering if I should use a filter, agonizing over how much I should up the sharpness, thinking up a witty caption, etc. How do people Instagram so often? I'd much rather be, y'know, enjoying the moment I'm living in instead of posting it to social media. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
+ In a similar vein, I don't take pictures of everything. I love a good photo as much as the next guy, but I don't feel the need to document every single second of every moment of my life. You want to hear something crazy? A few weeks ago I met my first blogger friend, Lauren, and in the whole hour-plus we were at lunch together, only one picture was taken. Neither of us took a picture of our meals. We got a picture together, and that was it.
+ I hate the word "blate." (Blogger date, for those non-bloggers reading this who have no idea what I'm talking about.) It's an ugly word. And I know it's succinct, but when you have to explain what it means to people, doesn't that defeat the purpose? Can't we just say, "I'm hanging out with my blog friend"? Why is that not acceptable?
+ You'll never see a fashion, beauty, recipe or DIY post here. My style is really nothing to write home about, nor do I want to see my own face 10 times in a single post, nor do I have a boyfriend to take my pictures for me. Makeup? If I put on eyeliner in the morning, it's a big deal. I get all of my recipes from the Internet and only cook because I need to feed myself. And my artsy skills peaked in my senior year of high school. I mean, in most areas of my life, I have no idea what I'm doing. So who am I to be telling anyone else how to do things?? (Except being unemployed and doing things alone. I definitely know how to do those things.)
My idea of fashion blogging: Neal Broten merch.
+ I only have one cup of coffee per day. I can't stand the taste of wine. I spend my time on Tumblr, and don't use my Pinterest account. I'd rather stay in and be alone (and in my pajamas) than go out and socialize, and over the weekend I sleep until 9:30 and don't go exploring for brunch spots or farmers markets. I haven't worked out in way too long, and even when I do work out, there's no ClassPass, no yoga, no running.
+ I blog, first and foremost, for me. Do most blog readers care about sports as much as I do? LOL, no. But it's what I want to write about, so I'm gonna write about it. Posting on a Saturday afternoon? Oh gosh, that's blogging sacrilege! But sometimes I just don't feel like writing a post during the week, so I do it on Saturday morning instead. Sue me. This is my Internet home, and I certainly love visitors, but my own happiness with it ultimately comes first. #selfish
+ I write really long posts. Whoops?
Whew. Can you tell I've been thinking about this for awhile? Haha. I'm not trying to hate on people who do these things -- I mean, if you can maintain an all-white apartment, my hat is truly off to you -- I've just never really been one for the pack mentality. And sometimes, seeing a million posts that look nothing like my own life is exhausting!
Any other bloggers out there feel like a black sheep sometimes?
I literally don't do any of these things, and these "blogger rules" are clearly unspoken because I didn't even know they existed! When it comes to meeting up with other bloggers, it's never going to happen, because I feel like my real world and blogging world are separate (or should be anyway). Are we meant to have a planner? Are we meant to even drink coffee? Is it bad that my room is a complete mess and covered in sticky notes? And what's wrong with posting on a Saturday afternoon!?
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The Life of Little Me
You do you! These are all great, but you forgot the one where you need to take dozens of photos of yourself glancing down while brushing your hair aside to showcase your outfit...lol.
ReplyDeleteLOL! I'm definitely guilty of some of these, and not-so-guilty of others :)
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