Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Blog Snobs.

It's no secret that Blissdom sparked a lot of blog drama over the past few days. Twitter has been a battle ground, and posts referencing the conference have either been praised or torn to shreds.

I didn't attend Blissdom.
And honestly? I don't give a flying crap about it.
I used to think it was something that I would love to attend. To be able to meet so many of the wonderful bloggers I've come across in real life sounded like a dream.

I know for some Blissdom really was amazing, and being that I've never been... I don't want to cast judgment. I just don't see it being worth spending the money since I'm a broke college kid at this point.

But in response to the Blissdom drama, I have lost a lot of respect for multiple bloggers.
In fact, I've grown more and more irritated at the direction that blogging has been moving in lately.

When I first began blogging, I felt like everyone was so encouraging and sincere. Posts were written from the heart, and I literally fell in love with the world of blogging. I met so many incredible ladies, and literally did not skip a day when it came to posting and reading blogs.

But now, I feel like every other post in my feed on both bloglovin and twitter is begging for sponsorships. I get it, why not make money off of your blog if you can? However, when it gets to the point that none of your posts have substance anymore... I refuse to put up with all of your sponsorship begging. I'm over it. Blogging is now nothing but how many numbers you have, and the egos that go along with it.

Don't get me wrong, there are tons of bloggers out there who don't act like this. I've just grown frustrated with the behavior of some over the past few days, and I honestly feel like this is worse than any middle school or high school drama I've ever seen. The amount of hypocrisy floating around blog land and twitter makes me sick.

I want blogging to just be the way it used to be.
Is that too much to ask??

Vent session over.
:)

29 comments:

Sonja said...

You know I completely feel the same way! It's so heartbreaking and I wish there was a drama, mean girl sensor to stop this kind of thing happening at a conference. Apart from the mean girl thing or feeling excluded, I really did have a good time last year learning things and meeting tons of new people. People who I had never heard of or had never read their blogs before. THOSE people turned out to be awesome friends.

I'm so glad I met you through Sarah! You are such a sweetheart! :)

Kristin said...

Oh, you are so right!

The sponsorships drive me nuts. I won't say that I'll never go the way of sponsorships, but when you have 2 posts a week and a dozen tweets a day about it, I don't want to read your blog anymore.

Thanks for reading my mind!

Kristin :)

ty said...

I love you. Big.

Jordan said...

I couldn't agree more. I'm sick of following blogs that I used to love and enjoy reading that now only include sponsorship posts. I want to read posts to learn more about you and be able to relate, not only about your sponsors.

Jessica said...

Oh my goodness, yes! Amen! I have had to really weed out a lot of blogs in my reader because I want blogs with substance! If you have more than one giveaway per week and spend most of your comments/tweets begging for sponsors, you have become a commercial, not a blogger. I haven't even looked at Twitter lately for the same reason

Sarah said...

Preach, sister.

When I moved from Google reader to Bloglovin, I cleaned out BIG time. So over it.

Kristyn said...

I agree! I have to say that I have had a lot of giveaways on my blog recently...but it's not going to be like that much longer. I am tired of the giveaways. I am also doing one, and only one, sponsorship post just to let people know that I have started offering sponsorships. That is all. And I posted it on Twitter a few days ago only to get the word out. But again, it won't be a regular thing for me. If you have to beg for a sponsor, then maybe you shouldn't have sponsorships. I want it to be genuine...not forced because I told you to on Twitter. Or offer crazy discounts for it.

Blue Dog Belle said...

Thanks for this love :)

Lindsey said...

Amen, girlfriend. I want to blog for me and to make friends, not a group of friends who excludes anyone who isn't in it.

Victoria said...

Let's work together to make it and keep it what it used to be!!! :) I'm with you. It's easy to want your blog to grow and comments and readers to go up....But what I enjoy most are bloggers who write because they a passionate about it no matter who knows about their site.

Stick around :) I think a community like that does still exist!

Kathryn said...

I agree with you 100%. Seeing other bloggers on instagram and twitter talking about blissdom really turned me off. A lot of blogs I used to read don't have any substance any more.

Anonymous said...

Girl. I so agree with you. I have unfollowed so many blogs that I once loved because I felt like they never had anything but post featuring sponsoring companies or other bloggers. It's getting to be too much.

Natalie said...

I am sticking to writing about what I love. Even if I don't get comments lol

Erin said...

HA! Girl! I have SO much to say about this in my head, but I'm not going to say anything specific because I'm trying to avoid getting personally involved. The one thing I WILL say though is, I agree with you 100%.

I also think that if you're not blogging with substance, authenticity, and honesty, then I don't want to have you in my reader. Grow your blog, go do big things and change the world, but don't forget where you started. It reminds me of a singer that gets in the business because they love to sing and create art only to get a little taste of fame and turn into a money-hungry fame seeking loser. I will say, though, I have some beautiful, wonderful blogger friends that do handle sponsors and ads with class and don't lose any substance, authenticity, or kindness so it can be done. In fact, the ones that handle it so well hardly even have a twitter presence, so maybe the key to it all is that "less it more." I guess it just takes the right kind of person. Anyway, enough of this crap! I love you and your blog so that's all that matters :)

Anonymous said...

Agreed! I followed a LOT more bloggers last year than this year. But all of a sudden my feed was filled with sponsorship calls. Not what I want to spend my time reading.

Unknown said...

I agree. I admire you for writing this - I don't have the guts to write what I really want to say. Like you, I've also lost respect for a lot of bloggers too, ones that I used to read on a daily basis. I hope that one day everyone realizes who these "mean girls" are in blog land that have been brought up the past few days. Until then, people will keep kissing their ass and thinking they're God's gift to blogging. And on the sponsorship note, I decided last month to sponsor 2 blogs and do their group giveaways and I totally regret it now. I felt "dirty" last week when I posted them. I will no longer be sponsoring blogs or participating in those large group giveaways.
I've been blogging for over 3 years now and I completely agree with you on it going back to the way it used to be.

lori said...

i could not agree with you more... when did everyone get so cocky and rude!? im going to bloggy boot camp in charlotte in may and i sure hope it is nothing like the posts ive read about blissdom this year.

Amanda said...

My last blog was JUST this exact same. SO sick of the pretentiousness, the money begging from sponsorships people or companies, tired of watching people try to keep up with the Jones's! I think if we band together, and start unfollowing, stop reading these blogs our message would be heard

Lindsay said...

I completely agree with you! I have stopped following/reading so many blogs lately because of the lack of real content. I may not have many readers, but at least I write about my life and my interests on my blog! :-)

Unknown said...

PREACH. I miss the "real" content. I don't even really know what the real point of Blissdom is. Looks fun but is it really expensive? From one broke college girl to another - happy real life blogging :)

Neely said...

I hope to meet your cute face someday at blissdom or elsewhere you are a gem :)

Emily said...

Amen to that. :) Love reading people's posts to get to know them and not about sponsorships, giveaways, etc.

Heather said...

And an AMEN is heard from this girl! Do you remember the days when we all put each others buttons on our blogs because we wanted to? Yes. I miss those days! I mean, that's great if you have sponsorship...but don't inundate my feed with lackluster posts filled with sponsorships, I'm just over it.

Also...I'm just really disappointed with how some of my favorite bloggers acted over this fiasco. We can all agree to disagree with class and dignity without the extreme antics.

Nichole @ casadecrews.com said...

And this is why you got twenty-three comments! Afreakingmen, my friend! I still enjoy blogging and have been doing so more because I want to connect more and also when I took an impromptu hiatus, I lost blog followers/friends and try to post more to keep people interested and you know what the real posts that come within, are the ones I connect with the most. Blogging is fun! The ones that are fortunate enough to make legit money out of it, great for them! But that is SO not the norm. Anyways, end rant :)

Seashells and Southern Belles said...

I couldn't agree more... I took a long break from blogging and while I missed it, there was a lot I didn't miss.. It really has changed since we first started! I want it to go back to the way it used to be too!!!

Kate at Green Fashionista said...

I could not agree with you more on everything! I've recently "cleaned house" and stopped following several blogs because there was no content anymore and all they've turned into are self promotions, giveaways, and sponsor posts. ENOUGH! I find it so sad, and love the bloggers that have stayed true to their "blogging roots" and actually have some substanance :)

Just Jess said...

AGREE COMPLETELY! I really hate all drama going on right now. Can we create a club of positive bloggers?

Jessica said...

totally agree.
I'm soo out of the blogging loop but just am not interested in reading what MOST people are putting out there these days...and it especially annoys me to see people begging for sponsors- on the blog and on twitter.
I used to love blogging but I just can't get back into it now...maybe someday again in the future... ha i still stalk occasionally tho :)

Renata said...

I recently switched over my blogging platform from weebly to blogger. I did this in hopes of being able to become a part of a community of bloggers who much like myself want to inspire and get to know one another. However, to my surprise all I have been seeing is individuals who simply want to "one up" each other. Many bloggers have come off as being snooty. Your post pretty much sums up exactly how I feel. Am I wrong to be a tad jaded?