This is a question I ask myself since the word influencer got a place in our vocabulary. I started with my blog five years ago and I see big differences from the moment I started until today. I still enjoy writing a blogpost, take pictures and hit the publish button. This hobby is something I would like to keep! But even I cannot deny that the blogging world is changed, this change you either love or hate it. And I have certainly mixed feelings about it!
These thoughts started for me since I noticed that my blog doesn’t get the interactions I use to have. Follows, comments and likes are pluming down and I don’t like it! I’m not hungry for them however, they do show appreciation for my hard work. These interactions are to me proof that I did a good job, I feel appreciated that I get them. You can say that it feels like getting an A for your exam. A good feeling, right?
Yes, I do understand to keep those interactions you should have a strategy. You should know when to post, which hashtags you should use and know all the algorithms of all your social media! Does this not sound to you as an annoying person yapping into your ears? It makes me only feel pressured, doesn’t feel like fun to me. This is the change that I don’t like in the blogging world. To stay relevant, it has to be bigger and better. Or you are just like a needle in a ‘’influencer haystack’’. Don’t let me speak about the dramas that comes with it! #jamescharlesisoverparty #mannymuaiscancelled and many other hashtags that came to life. Ugh, the dragging down of each other, those feuds! To me it is just a waste of time. We all are in the same boat, why is it so hard to mind your own business and be kind and respectful towards each other? And I’m not only talking about these beauty gurus. How about those Instagram influencers who feel too high of themselves to answer a simple blogging related question, because they think that you want to steal their secrets?
Don’t get me wrong, I know how it feels to work hard for something that you put your heart into. And that you want to keep some secrets to yourself because of it. I definitely don’t blame you for this! It is your right to do so however, chill. No need for attitudes! I’m a firm believer of the give and take life motto. Nothing wrong answering a question about which filter you use for your Instagram feed.
To answer my own question, am I an influencer or a blogger? I liked to be called a blogger. I understand the influencing part when it comes to blogging. I write about brands that I love and are bought by myself, but I also worked with brands who sponsored me. I create an opinion about the product, my opinion can be followed or not. Because of it, I influence too. Why am I calling myself a blogger? Because in the five years of my blogging life, I never ‘’took’’ something I don’t believe in. I never got paid for something, I never felt pressured to write a fake blogpost about it. I’m to down-to-earth for that, thank God! Who wants to live in a plastic fantastic world? Not me. I call myself a blogger, because in the five years I blog I have not created a following that are so big, that I can make a brand for myself to sell my own merchandise. I call myself a blogger, because I still write blogposts. My blog is my own creative world, where I can be creative on my own terms and still have a good conscience.
What is your opinion about influencing?
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Saïda Chahid 