Following on from my current series of posts about blogging, I wanted to talk about the good and bad of blogging.
Without intending to start on a negative note (but I'd rather end on a positive one) I'm going to talk about the "bad" side of blogging.
The 'Downs'
1. Nasty Comments - The sad thing about the Internet is that everyone is merrily typing away behind their computers, and often forget that the person behind the post is very real, with very real feelings. I've seen nasty comments on blog posts and on twitter which can be really hurtful to people. When you are putting so much of yourself out there on the Internet, you're not always going to get a positive reaction, but there's a difference between being nasty and constructive. Sadly, you're always going to get people that aren't very nice, thats life, but dust yourself off, as for every negative comment, theres ten positive ones.
2. Feeling Inadequate - Blogging can often become a bit of a numbers game; about how many followers, pages views you get in a moth/week/year etc. This can sometimes make you feel like you just don't compare, and whether it's how many followers you have, or whether your budget just won't stretch to the current must have item,, or your design or photography skills just aren't up to scratch, we all have little things that we lack confidence in, and sometimes blogging enhances this further.
3. Copying - Inevitably, you're going to write a post that you're really proud of, that you've taken a lot of time over, you feel is really original, and someone will end up taking liberties with it, when using it as inspiration, and will end up just copying it in it's entirety. There's not generally much you can do about this, but it's really really frustrating!!
4. Losing Your Mojo - I don't think I've ever come across a blogger yet, who at some point hasn't lost their blogging "mojo". Whether real life just got in the way, they became uninspired, unmotivated or found blogging a chore - feeling like they had to post something even if there wasn't anything they felt passionate enough to write about, I think most bloggers have been in this place at some point. This can get you down, and sometimes it's hard to come back from. Even in only a year, I felt this way when work became too much. I found just coming away from blogging and spending time reading them, rather than writing, helped me alot.
The 'Up's (aka Why Blogging is Awesome!)
The "good" side of blogging - the reasons why we keep tapping away at our keyboards, and putting ourselves out there! These are my personal reasons, I'm sure you all have many more!!
1. Aside from the aforementioned negativity, my little blog is my little slice of happy! I try to keep my corner of the world wide web, full of nice, pretty things and thoughts, to share with you all. Sometimes real life isn't always pretty and happy, so its nice to have this little place to escape to.
2. One of my favourite things about blogging is the community. The lovely friendly, helpful people who make up this supportive community. I've recently begun getting out to meet some of these people in person, and intend to do so in the future, but even without this, I already love all the online friends I have made as part of writing my blog.
3. Blogging always makes me want to get crafty and try new things. This can only be a good thing. Sometimes they don't always work out as well as I'd like - and they never look like they do on Pinterest - but that's OK, it's good to try these things out, whether they are successful or not.
4. Seeing the beauty in the little things. Blogging has encouraged me to see the beauty in the everyday, and try to diarise the things I've seen, rather than just letting them fade into the back of my mind.
5. Finally, and this may sound like a bit of an odd one, but blogging has also made me realise that actually I'm normal! It's OK to shop in charity shops, have a love of vintage, and prefer afternoon tea over a wild night out. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the odd night of getting dressed up to do some wild cheesy dancing with my girls, but on the whole this just isn't my thing anymore! I am clearly what
Wish Magazine refers to as an 'Early Granny' and blogging has taught me this is absolutely fine!!
Don't forget, you can still enter my blog birthday giveaway here!
What things do you love most about blogging or what makes you sad about blogging?