I’m a little tired of doing a “Life Lately” every week at the moment. We have a new(ish) puppy. It’s the snowiest February on record here in Minnesota. We’re planning our Australia trip. I’m working on photography and writing and cooking a lot. That’s a good summary of every week lately!
So while I don’t have any interesting updates to share, I thought I’d start another series of weekly personal posts as an alternative. They’re “Claireified Chats,” meaning that I’ll simply chat with you about random topics on my mind and you can (and should) your opinions, too! And the first topic is…
Why I Liked Blogs More 5 Years Ago: Blogging Has Changed
I’ve been thinking about how blogging has changed lately from the perspective of both a longtime blog reader and now, of course, as a blogger myself. I’ve only had the time to “get serious” about blogging over the past few months. But overall, I enjoyed the blog community much more when I first started reading blogs (c. 2013/2014) and had my tiny little pink Blogger blog (2015).
Here are the top 5 ways in which blogging has changed, and not for the better…
1. Bloggers genuinely interacted with each other
As a blogger, this is one of the saddest changes to me. I’ve made a few very good friends through blogging, ones who I’ve Skyped with/met in person/chat with often about everyday life things. But I met them all back in 2015, when my blog was teeny-tiny in terms of statistics–but had wayyy more comments and interaction than it does now!
I happened to click through a gorgeous recipe on Pinterest the other day and this post describes my feelings so well. Blogging in 2019 often feels like yelling into the void: “Hello?! Is anyone out there?!” All the pageviews and unique visitors in the world don’t mean a thing without genuine interaction and relationships.
I think this is partly because so many bloggers at the moment are in it to make a quick buck. Well, really, they want a quick ten thousand bucks and then to quit their full-time jobs and make a career out of blogging! So they focus a lot on numbers and not as much on relationships. Everyone wants to be admired, but no one wants to take the time to build others up. Which leads me to my next point–
2. Bloggers didn’t stick to their niches so closely
Just to Claireify is first and foremost, a gluten-free food blog. I finally have time, after all these years, to really work on my photography, editing, and writing, and I’m starting to see a tiny bit of growth. It’s wonderful. But I will never not share other, more personal things on here, too, like this post.
There are very few blogs out there these days that aren’t laser-focused on one topic: food, self-care, fashion, whatever. And as a blogger I know that’s what brings the pageviews. Trust me, I understand.
But the problem for me is that I only consistently read blogs where I connect with the blogger themselves. When food bloggers wrote about their faith, or lifestyle bloggers wrote about their relationship, it made them seem well-rounded and relatable to me. Like a real person I was chatting with through the screen. And in that vein…
3. Bloggers weren’t afraid to be imperfect
Now there’s a fine line between vulnerability and oh my gosh, TMI! I did not need to see a picture of your child being potty trained! And there are definitely people out there who share wayyy too much, in my opinion. But that’s not quite what I’m talking about here.
First, I’m talking about creativity. Bloggers weren’t afraid to take risks! To start a series and let it fizzle out. To get creative with new graphic designs and topics, and see if they did well–or not. Nowadays I feel like everyone is just copying the successful people instead of using their own ideas, and I find that very sad. Isn’t blogging in its essence a creative endeavor? I love to try new things on here, whether they win or flop.
Then, there’s social media. Do not get me started on this. You know what I want to see on social media? Pictures of a delicious dinner even if the light is yellow. Selfies that aren’t posed and edited into oblivion. A picture of your messy shoes after a walk in the rain. I loved seeing little insights into people’s lives like that on Instagram, Twitter, etc.
Obviously, my own IG at the moment is quite curated. I wish I had the confidence to live out what I wanted to see! Unfortunately this is what brings growth. But I wish we as a society cared more about authenticity than we do at the moment. Less about prettiness and more about realness. Maybe there will be a new social media site to drive that trend someday…?
4. Sponsored posts were more authentic
You know when I stopped following most blogs that I used to follow? When they wrote about how they’d been using Ivory soap for years one week, then about how great Dove soap is the next! Or they started advertising something that didn’t match with their brand (healthy living bloggers selling those wooden watches 2 years ago, anyone? Sorry, wooden watch company, but I will never work with you. I think people have seen enough of your watches to last a lifetime).
I’m not against sponsored posts in general. I think that bloggers who have worked hard to build a reader base, deserve opportunities to make money from their blogs! And I’ve purchased many products at the recommendation of my favorite bloggers: food items, books, even bigger things like my food photography surface, DSLR, and blog parent theme.
But I only follow and purchase through people who are genuine–who aren’t afraid to say no to sponsorships or to give a subpar review. They have my trust, and most “big bloggers” these days do not.
5. Bloggers wrote for the love of blogging
Honesty, authenticity, vulnerability–these are the words I would use to describe blogging a few years ago. This is the biggest way that blogging has changed. You could tell by bloggers’ writing that they were blogging because they loved to do it, not because they were trying to make a quick thousand bucks.
You can tell when people are passionate about something, like in these blog posts (my favorites from over the years):
- Don’t be afraid to be different – My Faith Story
- Will you raise your daughter a vegan? My answer may surprise you
- Why 2016 Was Tough + My Focus Word for 2017 (note: this is a video)
- Finding My Voice + Value
- rewriting my definition of success
- And a few others that have since been deleted from the Internet…
Versus, when you read posts along these lines:
“Are you looking for self-care ideas? Here are 20 of my favorites. [Insert 20 generic self-care tips here.] Also please share this generic pink-and-grey-and-white graphic on every social media site to help me get famous! Kk thanks bye!”
or
“[Insert 2-year-old recipe stolen from another blog here <– YES, unfortunately I’ve caught people doing this!]”
or
“#momlife is so hard! Thank goodness for these name brand plastic sandwich bags (or some other irrelevant household product)! [Brand name] is paying me to write about 10 ways that I deal with motherhood on difficult days. [Insert generic organizational ideas here.]”
That’s why I enjoyed blogs more five years ago. Blogging has changed a lot. And I hope that the era of blog perfection/monetization/focusing on numbers will fizzle out soon and that the blogging world will once again be a quieter place focused on sharing real things and relationships, not marketing. But who knows?
What are your thoughts on the state of the blogging world at the moment? If you’ve been around for a while, do you think that blogging has changed?