Blog Together

Lily Melrose, from LLYMLRS.com wrote a really interesting, refreshing and thought provoking post recently, reflecting on the past year - not only with regards to her own life, but how the blogging world as an industry has changed, and I wanted to touch upon it myself because it has certainly been something that has been on my mind too.No matter how big or small your blog is, having a little corner of the internet that you make your own automatically means you are a part of the 'blogging community', one that I used to consider to be very tight knit and friendly (and still do to some extent). They interact and engage on Twitter, some are friends on Facebook and in many cases, attend meet ups hosted by fellow bloggers in cities up and down the country (and around the world), however in the past few months - what started off as a friendly, 'open book' has definitely turned into something more competitive. Competitiveness is by no means a bad thing. In fact, I'd go as far to say that it makes the world go round in many cases, however I was genuinely shocked when I was first informed about GuruGossiper, a site which enables people to criticize bloggers work on a forum style website, to the extent that several individuals even have their own 'thread'. Of course, not all of those participating in the rather hurtful and hateful conversations are bloggers themselves, but I'll be betting (with how much of an interest in other bloggers they take) that many of them are.I don't want to tarnish every blogger with the same brush, because this isn't the case at all. 98% of the bloggers that I have previously met or come into contact with have been so friendly, supportive and inspiring and I am pleased to call several, some of my closest friends - however the competitiveness (even subconsciously) that is so rife in the editorial blogging community means that we don't share the same 'community feel' that we used to and as a result, it feels like the world of blogging is stuck in a bit of a rut. Don't get me wrong, bloggers are taken seriously - and some of them have taken over the world, literally. But there's very little room for more growth, or for new bloggers to emerge (as Lily said) because there is the constant urge to compare ourselves to others, rather than pull together and create something amazing.YouTubers have become celebrities in their own rights in the past year, with Zoella reaching 3 million followers and Tanya Burr practically being mobbed after predicting a 'small coffee shop meet-up' and then 1000's of fans turning up to see her. I don't think bloggers sticking to the written word will ever be on that scale, because there is much more of a connection and an engagement with videos and YouTube, but I can't help but think that the reason they are so successful and continue to grow is because they all pull together and root for one another, rather than solely focusing on their own growth.I still get an immense sense of satisfaction every time I receive an email notifying me of a new follower or subscriber, but there was a point in 2013 where I felt frustrated and angry with myself in a way that I couldn't increase my blog following or provide something new and exciting to attract readers. I soon realised it wasn't the numbers which counted (and I knew this anyway, I think there's a side to all of us that wants to strive for more) but the people that already read my blog and take the time to comment, or tweet me or message me.I'm not entirely sure what the magic solution would be, or what the 'problem' actually is, if there even is one. I just think that 2014 should be about looking to the future and seeing how we as bloggers can evolve and develop, how we can inspire others. We have a platform that not many others have and I think it would be amazing to use this in a positive way and pull together. Perhaps we could have a 'spread the positive thinking' month - or 'share a blogger that you love' day once a week (I'm sure someone could come up with a snappier title). Or maybe we could even go one step bigger and start a giant collaboration.There is lots of community spirit among many bloggers already, don't get me wrong. But I do think sometimes (I especially) lose sight of why I first began blogging. It's not about becoming the 'biggest one out there' but using our little platform to express our opinions, help and inspire others and most importantly - enjoy doing it without feeling pressure and being judged on horrible gossip websites. I appreciate 'trolls' are part and parcel of the online blogging world, but we don't have to fuel the fire.