Today I don’t know what to write. I don’t because it’s difficult to understand what would really be interesting for readers in a time where we’re all being crushed by so much content, good or bad, just constantly, everywhere, at any time..
Do I want to tell you about my new favorite moisturizer because I’ve cleaned my bathroom cabinet just to take a pretty-ish picture of it? Do I want to tell you how I’ve been struggling with taking pictures for the blog because I don’t want to feature in those pictures that much? Do I want to complain about Social Media again and at the same time advertise for that blog post on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for you to be able to find it and read it? Do I want to be someone you could easily identify to and at the same time want to keep my life super private? Do I want to tell you about how marvelous a blush is when I don’t want to show you my face? If I decide to not share too much of myself and focus on products, do I want to buy products just for the sake of reviewing them on the blog? Do I want to share a more personal column every week on here without getting too… personal?
Does the success of a blog depend on how much someone shares about their personal life?
I’ve been reading blogs for a decade but to be completely honest, I don’t read them anymore because I feel like they’re not as personal and authentic as they used to be. I believe I feel closer to the content creators who share bits of their life online but I am not ready to do that. Yet, I’d like more people to read this blog.
I probably like way more selfies than pictures of pretty flowers on Instagram because in a way it makes me feel weirdly connected to the person I’m following but also because, to be fair, it’s mainly the content I get on my feed. Does the success of a blog depend on how much someone shares about their personal life?
I remember the first blog I discovered was Garance Doré. At the beginning she did not share pictures of her at all. She didn’t need to, I knew enough about her life because of how open she was in her articles. Then one day she posted a picture and I was so curious to see how she looked like. Then moved on because I was all about her stories and her writing, and this was way before Instagram got big so you weren’t witnessing everyone’s life from the inside like we are today.
Fast forward a few years and she was all over the blog. People were reading her, and following her extraordinary adventures probably because they felt like they knew her, how she looked like, who she was dating, what bag she had just bought, what journey she went through with her curly hair and in which city she lived. I emphasize on probably here for an obvious reason. Garance Doré is super talented, she’s an amazing story teller, illustrator, fashion icon, photographer but would have people cared so much if it wasn’t for the fact that they felt like they truly connected to her personality and personal life? I don’t have the answer but I feel like it played a massive part in the success of her blog. The blog is now called Atelier Doré, she has contributors, great content and it is more of an online magazine. I don’t read it anymore, because I don’t feel as close to the Atelier Doré Team and for some reason I can’t relate as much. What do I still read? Garance’s diary.
I don’t feel confortable putting “pretty” pictures of myself every other day on social media to get enough likes, talking about my personal life or sharing personal pictures so “followers” can feel like they know me to finally get an audience on social media so that people find my blog and maybe, maybe read the articles.
When I decided to open a blog, I said to my family and friends: “It’s going to be based on my experience with beauty, and style, and basically anything that inspires me and I’ve decided that there won’t be any pictures of myself.” Which, raised a few eyebrows for sure. And I tried, I really did because I really did not want to put my face out there. Also it was convenient for me to believe it would break the internet be a cool idea, maybe something a bit different. And honestly, quite quickly It felt a bit silly to talk about red lipstick without showing it on, and then about curly hair etc and also I could feel that new followers and new readers weren’t actually, deeply, connecting with my content. Which I completely understand. Who was I after all to tell everyone about my relationship with beauty, my favorite podcasts and so on? So I took a few selfies, got my little brother to take pictures of me, felt good about it for a hot minute… and then I had a big blogging crisis where basically I talked about choosing to grow an audience organically, take #prettyreal pictures and just try and do my own thing.
I did not realize at the time the subtitle of that also meant : I don’t feel confortable putting “pretty” pictures of myself every other day on social media to get enough likes, talking about my personal life or sharing personal pictures so “followers” can feel like they know me to finally get an audience on social media so that people find my blog and maybe, maybe read the articles. When I think about it it makes me laugh in a way because of how absurd it all feels. It’s like If I were to create a youtube channel without actually being featured on it, but still create content that inspires, questions, interests people and share my voice in a way, you know? Would I watch that though? Would you?
Now I’m in a place where I don’t feel like I want to share pictures of myself too often because I don’t really feel like it adds anything to my content. I want to write more personal stuff like the article about turning 30 but I also don’t want to share pictures of my partner or too much of where I live and I don’t feel like I want to talk on Insta Stories when I wake up in the morning even though I really enjoy it when people do it on their feed.
(sigh)
Ah, the irony of wanting people to read your blog but not being ready to share too much!
I’m posting this long ramble because I’d like to know what YOU think. Why do you follow the people you follow? What makes you want to read a blog nowadays? Is my analysis completely wrong, do you relate a little, a lot? What makes you interested in someone’s content?
If you’ve read the whole thing, congrats and thank you! K, bye.
Elsa
First off, thank you so much for this post. I think that you really captured what a lot of bloggers struggle with, or at least I do. What is the balance and the motivation for what we share in our blog or other media pages? (On a side note, reading your post made me think of when Carrie Bradshaw is writing in “Sex and the City.” 😊)
But, to get to your questions.
I don’t have a specific rhyme or reason as to what makes me follow another blog. There are a variety of reasons I follow blog’s, ranging from content, to uniqueness, to writing style, to feeling connected to the person or the content.
What makes me feel connected to a blogger? Authenticity.
And what does that look like? Different for each person. It doesn’t matter what content you are putting out, or how much or how little you are sharing, if you are being authentic, you’re true self will shine through and it will make a connection with your reader.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment! Authenticity is key for sure, and what you said about connecting with the reader is so true, thanks again for this great, smart and helpful comment!
If I may add on, I also feel usefulness. I used to have my blog years ago for a year or two and I stopped as I felt self inflicted pressure to keep posting. So it became less exciting for me and more as a job even though I have a full time job and this was meant to be a hobby. I’ve just restarted but decided I only want to post useful information, useful even if only for me. That way maybe people similar to me would find it useful.