Lately, I’ve seen a lot of posts about caring about social media, about stats, about what makes a blog successful, and so on.
Bloggers have been talking about the reality of caring about stats, and not pretending they don’t, when they do, because -as it’s my case too-, we weren’t heard a lot in our real life environments, so we come on to the internet to share with like-minded people and for once, be heard. The problem is that once we’re heard, we want to be heard by more people, especially when others around us don’t really have to do anything because by now people just flock to them. And you want that, but that takes work, and luck, and you despise that ‘luck’ bit because as it turns out you may be the the unluckiest person ever, so what gives?
And talking about these things, it hurts, and it takes a special kind of courage because you’re admitting very human things. You admit to being selfish and jealous and a little greedy. You’re not a cool blogger who only cares about making the world a better place.
And that’s okay, you know? Because as long as we’re not assholes, the reasons why we do what we do are our own, so we should own them.
Some things you can do to start being yourself online
- Post about the books you are actually interested in, not just the ones that are hyped at the moment. Same goes for bookstagram. Find the people who are interested in those kind of books and don’t let them go!
- Make a post about your hobbies
- Make a post about a day in your life
- Request ARCs
- Don’t request ARCs
- Be on social media
- Or don’t
- Disclose your stats
- Or don’t
And this doesn’t only apply to blogging.
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Being unapologetically me as an introvert
At first I was really embarrassed about being an introvert, and of course, believed there was something wrong with me. Then, I thought, surely, it was something I would outgrow –or I’d never be successful.
So the first step was acknowledging that I was indeed an introvert, and that wasn’t going away any time soon. And I was okay with it (I even wrote a post about that).
Then, there was the fact that I got to know myself better, and I started feeling confused and a little guilty about not fitting in as an introvert as well as I had before. Because I’ve gotten into public speaking, and doing other things that don’t fit into the introvert mold.
Could there be some drawbacks to showing ourselves as we really are? Or would it be more benefitial?
If someone doesn’t post about the ‘hyped’books, should they keep at it and risk not having a big audience, or change their tactic and practically trade their enjoyment for likes?
I’ve gotten to the point where I’m much more self-assured about who I am as a blogger. It took some time to get here, but I’m glad I did!!
One of the things I love about being a blogger is that I can be loud and obnoxious but still be an introvert. So many people make the mistake of thinking introverted=silent. NOT SO. I definitely agree that it is so important to be yourself online. If you aren’t yourself, how can any of the friends you make be real!? My introvert-ism has actually gotten worse over the years, not better. In fact- I used to be the EXTROVERT of the family! Not so anymore haha but that’s life.
That’s interesting! I’d never met anyone who used to be an extrovert. I really like the ‘how can any of the friends you make be real’ bit! That’s something worth thinking about. It’s not about suddenly telling everyone your life story. It’s about personality and making sure we’re not faking that, even unintentionally. Thanks for your thoughts!
Oh, Pam, I love this post so much, thank you for writing it <3 I have come to see what you're mentioning here, a certain type of pressure to be that kind of blogger, the one posting about all the latest books, the one getting the hyped ARCs, the one tweeting all the time because people do it just as well, the ones trying to be like some other popular blogger, and so on. It has happened to me, and I know I'm influenced at times by other bloggers, social media, other people's stats and THESE HYPED BOOKS. But yes, you're so right.
We should be ourselves. Read the books we REALLY want to read. Tweet, or not tweet. It's okay. I'm always nervous about tweeting, I feel like I don't fit in, somehow I feel pressured to, at times?! It's weird. Share or not share our stats. I haven't shared my blog stats for over a year now and I feel better about it all somehow.
I think it is SO important to blog for ourselves. It's a hobby, not a job, and we should not be looking for likes and views and comments above everything else. I do look for comments because I LOVE talking to other bloggers, but I'm always trying to remember to write the posts I want to, for myself, to make myself happy and proud before anything else 🙂
Yes, I just, started seeing a lot of posts about this topic, and it’s something I’d been thinking a lot myself. All about measuring up, being successful, and feeling guilty of not doing ALL the things. But it just comes down to being ourselves, and finding our success that way! For example, you’re the COMMENTING QUEEN. You obviously love doing it, and people love you for it too!
-Thanks so much for stopping by, by the way! XD