I feel like I can't click onto Bloglovin' anymore without seeing a post titled something like "Is This the End of Blogging?" or "Thinking of Giving Up." and it can be really discouraging to think that people really feel this way.
Don't get me wrong, I get it. This is a very new blog, but I've actually been a blogger since 2009. I have very clear and fond memories of the rise of blogging, and how wonderful and exciting it was to feel really on the curve of something, and have people engaging with your content and enjoying everyone else's work. Since then things have changed. I ducked out for a few years and when I came back in about 2016 it felt like things had stalled. A lot of people that I had absolutely loved had dropped out of the blogging world altogether. I was very discouraged and, although I kept blogging, it felt like the people who would be successful bloggers already were, and there was no way of growing an audience anymore. F L Y N N was my attempt at a fresh start, leaving behind the expectations and blogging just for myself.
So I completely understand the dissatisfaction. Nobody wants to feel like they're putting time and energy into a sinking ship, but I just feel that when we collectively have this attitude - that it's all pointless - all we do is poke more holes into the hull and force it down faster. Realistically, if someone came onto the blogging platform as a newcomer, and they saw this droopy, defeated mindset about how it's all pointless and stale, could we reasonably expect them to stick around?
This isn't a post calling out anyone specific, or saying that we can't feel this way. I think sharing our concerns about something we care about can be a really cathartic and useful thing to do, but there's no point feeling bad about something, and then throwing our hands up declaring that we can't do anything about it.
For me, blogging will always be special, because long form writing has a power that images and videos don't. I've never felt connected to, and affection for, an Instagram account, or a YouTuber, the way I do with bloggers. Where other forms can feel curated and superficial, a good blog can look very professional and sleek but maintain a personality and charm that creates a much more intimate connection between reader and writer. The experience of following a blog, when it's creator works hard, and enjoys what they do, is a strange but wonderful blend of reading your favourite magazine, and having a pen-pal sharing their life with you.
Blogging can be an incredibly unique and special platform, and when we really enjoy it, and engage with it in a positive, optimistic way, we create a dynamic and energetic community that other people want to be a part of. If we shunt out content halfheartedly, because we believe that blogging's on it's way out anyway, we create a community that's just picking at a corpse, trying to get what they can from it before it's all gone.
For me, the first step forward into a new, more positive stage of the blogging game is to focus on connection, and engagement. Less people are reading blogs now, but lots of people still are! You and I for a start! And it's up to us to be encouraging and appreciative of our favourite bloggers, as well as newcomers who are starting out. If we all see that our content is being seen and appreciated, we'll be motivated to up our game on our own blogs, and pass on that appreciation to each other. This isn't about smiles and rainbow cakes and 'why can't we all be friends?' This is about putting the energy into the blogging world that we all want to be there! There can be something of a selfish attitude sometimes, where we lament that nobody comes and reads our blog, when we don't go out there and read those of other people! That needs to stop and we need to focus more on the community aspect of blogging, and really take advantage of what we have that other platforms don't, which is a much easier time of connecting and finding and sharing one another.
With that in mind, I'm going to share a few of my own favourites. People who aren't drowning in followers, but who have blogs that I love and want to share with everyone.
SARTORIAL SCOT - I've followed Lynnsay for a while, and her posts are always a treat. She seems to post about anything and everything, whatever she fancies talking about, but the whole feel of her blog is so sleek and pulled together, and her aesthetic is always on point. She is the perfect example of someone who gets that balance of personality and professionalism just right.
MAKE ERIN OVER - My go-to-girl for beauty recommendations. Erin reviews a lot of cruelty free products and she's never steered me wrong. Her blog always feels like a little ray of sunshine, and her tone is so likeable. I know she's been feeling the blogging blues lately so do go and give her some love.
WITCHCAKE - Holly is a blogger that I always look forward to reading. She posts about things that I wish I felt more confident talking about. She talks about sex positivity and witchy things, as well as her commitment to vegan and cruelty free consumerism. She has an incredibly confident and self-possessed tone that I admire so much, and I always come away from Holly's blog feeling a little more kick-ass than I did before.
HONESTLY RUSSELL - I've followed Hayley for YEARS, and she's gone through some pretty big changes in her life. But rather than drop her blog when things happened like I did, Hayley took her blog along for the ride. Honestly Russell is a great read, full of book reviews, food reviews, and her adventures as a Scot living in the USA.
MOODS, MEDS, AND MEALS - Cara is a fairly new blogger, but someone I think is really worth your time. Cara draws on her experience as a nurse to talk about mental health, as well as touching on healthcare in general in the UK. She writes with real passion, and also has a series in which others are invited to share their mental health experiences, to show the extent to which mental health is a unique and individual thing. A wonderful blog and I can't wait to see it grow.
NETTLE & BLACKBERRY - Imii is fucking hilarious, and it's great to see a blogger who clearly puts time and effort into what she creates, without taking it super seriously. Imii is that girl at school who always got good marks, but was always too busy making jokes and sassy observations to actually do any work. Go have a read and enjoy. You're welcome.
HOLLY POSTS THINGS - My real life homegirl and new-on-the-scene blogger, Holly is a wonderful addition to the blogging world, with a hilarious way of sharing stories about writing, as well as book reviews. She's only just started blogging after YEARS of being told she should so frankly if you all let blogging go down the tubes just as she's started I will be furious.
KIERAN'S CORNER - Another irl friend of mine, Kieran has possibly the BEST taste in books I've ever come across, and his blog is a wonderful blend of humour and heartfeels. We've also started doing a podcast together which I can't wait to share with you all!
So there you are. No excuses for not knowing where to go to start making blogging an energetic and exciting place to be. Go on, off you pop!
Feel free to share blogs that I'm sleeping on, I really want to start engaging more myself!
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