I miss blogging.
I miss rambling on about random little moments.
I miss making new friends via the weird old internet and exchanging emails like old school pen pals.
I miss lists and random brain dump posts.
I miss early morning typing sessions with coffee and some music and the sound of fingers clicking on the keyboard.
I miss comments on my blog and commenting on other blogs.
I miss giveaways and link ups and random shout outs from other bloggers when you write something that they can nod their head at.
I miss getting recommendations on stuff to try and places to go that isn’t sponsored.
I miss laughing at the funny stories of daily life and following along with real stories.
I miss posting without feeling like I need to spend 30 minutes creating a good image and title for the post. (I hope you like the photo I so creatively chose in 30 seconds for this post.)
I know this still exists and I still read a few blogs daily that I have for years. But I feel like blogging as a whole has really evolved in the last year or so. Lots of people have gone silent on the internet for one reason or another, some have turned into more of a business and less of a personal story (which I totally support but maybe don’t love in the same way) and there are my few friends that are still rocking.
Things change and grow over time and obviously blogging was going to evolve. I don’t have the same kind of time that I had when we first moved to devote to this little corner of the internet. Remember that time? I didn’t really have any friends in town, so I had lots of nights to hang out with my computer. Between work, fun and traveling, this blog has taken a back seat and I miss it.
I love reading about the weekend adventures that we had back then and I want to get back to documenting the little things more frequently. I want to get back to connecting with people over shared opinions, weird pizza obsessions or the latest great library read. I want to get funny texts from my friends back in Minnesota about the classy things I shared. I want to share my favorite things, photos, places we’ve tried in Brooklyn and adorable pictures of Lola & Quincy.
I know I’m not alone here. So, please I’m begging you, comment below with your favorite blog that you read and your own. Tell me what you love about blogging. Not a blogger? Tell me something awesome.
I really relate to this. I miss hobby blogging, which seems to be nearly non-existent. I feel like if you start a blog now, you have to have a ~reason~ and a ~focus~ and I feel like it used to be just about sharing things you liked and meeting other people. Maybe that's still happening on other platforms but I've lost a lot of my desire to blog for some of those reasons. But it's nice to see someone feels the same way and misses that sense of community.
If you find people still writing that authentic life stuff, please hook a sister up so I can read them too.
i totally get why people want to use their blog to make money and all that, and i support it, but like you said, i don't have the same kind of time as i used to, and i don't particularly want to 'waste' it forcing myself to get through a blog i used to like. most of the time it is because i used to like the person, who barely even shows their face or personality anymore. i am all about reading reviews and suggestions from people who actually use products or services, but lately i will see a review post and my first thought is sponsored, even though of course non sponsored review type posts still exist.. i'm just like weary of everything now lol. i love looking back on my blog for random little memories and big memories, i feel like i remember so much now that i have my blog to look back on. so yeah. rambling, but that's what i like to read and write, and props to those making money but it's not for me.
i like "every day life" types of blogs. a bunch of blogs i used to follow turned from every day life to GIVE ME THE MONIES and stopped crafting real/relatable posts….so i unfollowed them. i also can't really stand sponsored posts; i just skip over those…unless it's a post about skin products or hair removal then i'm all up in that LOL
I'm a blog reader, but my favorite posts are day in the life – i really like those 'photo an hour', so interesting. My favorite bloggers are the ones who WRITE, not just model outfits – although i follow a few of those too. I really like Naptime Chai, love Camp Patton (she's just hilarious. she writes the way i speak, if you know what i mean), It's the Little Things really cracks me up, even if her fashionista posts are out of my league/interest 🙂
Oh man. I totally feel you. It's hard to find a blogger that isn't trying to get your money via affiliate links, sponsored posts, or even through their ecourse. I miss getting those glimpses into everyone's lives without having to wade through the business aspects of everything.
My favorite blogs are http://everyday-reading.com, http://leighkramer.com, and http://modernmrsdarcy.com. And, of course, I blog at http://marisamohi.com.
I am struggling with wanting to be more personal but not knowing if I should be. I find few blogs that I really feel like I need to check all the time. Some that I do read are Fairy Princess Diaries and Just Jessie Blog: http://justjessieblog.com/
I totally agree. I am afraid to start blogginf again because its not the same anymore. Can we be friends? 🙂
http://Www.blissfulconfessions.blogspot.com
I feel ya! While I do an occasional sponsored post an make a few (and I do mean FEW) dollars from ads, I just love writing about whatever comes to mind. So many blogs have gotten away from that and it feels like everyone thinks they are an "expert" on something these days… new flash, most of 'em aren't 😉 I love every day life posts and blogs where people just share what's going on. Sometimes it's a great new recipe they perfected, sometimes it's a funny story and sometimes it's about their recent vacation. Gimme all the real stuff!!
Yes, yes, yes to all of this. I feel like everyone who started a "personal blog" has moved over to "lifestyle blogging." Gurl, I don't need no more "5 Tips To Grow Your Instagram Following By Taking Pictures Of Shit On White Marble," I wanna know about YOUR LIFE. Like, did you accidentally put orange juice on your Cheerios instead of milk but it actually wasn't so bad?
I don't wanna hate, I mean, I think Personal blogging is SO BALLSY. Being like, "Hey, I put OJ on my Cheerios this morning, I bet people would love to hear about it!" and just writing about it. That's INCREDIBLE. I had a crisis of confidence on my blog and considered a rebrand but decided I prefer personal blogging, so I've been doing more of that (starting this week lol) at meghansara.com, because I'm doing a lot of "lifestyle blogging" for my other outlets (Femnasty, Queenthings) and felt like I needed a place to be like "Hey I just realized my menstrual cycle is always an even number of days long, anybody else have this? I'm going to Vegas and betting on EVEN." I mean, tell me if I'm missing the mark, but I miss the old ways of like, Nat the Fat Rat and Dooce. I still feel like NieNie Dialogues is pulling out some lifestyle posts, and I find it so cozy and refreshing, even though every blog is so short, I still love it. I also love The Daily Tay!
I had this open in my browser for so long because I was like, "Gurl, you're gonna leave a cray long comment and be embarrassing," and look, I guess I did that. I mean, if you ever need a Brooklyn Blogger hang, I'm up here in Greenpoint, WITH ALL THE GOOD BARS 😉
It has definitely changed and it's hard to not get swept up in the dozens of posts about what you should do if you want to be a successful blogger– as if there's just one kind. It seems like a lot of people took a turn to make money over keeping their content genuine or as raw as it once was, like you mentioned.
I've started and abandoned probably over 20 blogs since I was in middle school. Remember Xanga? Livejournal? More than half of the reason that I write in a blog is for future me. I love reading my own blog posts and seeing where I was at at certain points in my life. You're right, so many people do it for the business side, but what of their lives are they documenting if everything is "evergreen content"?
Everyone's blogs serve a specific purpose to them. But I'm not trying to start a business with my blog. If I make 10 cents in a month from ad clicks, that's cool. I do it for me! I love reading blogs written by people with the same mindset. Because I'm nosy and like hearing all about people's lives. I love http://www.thegirlwholovedtowrite.com because her blog is adorable and she writes about her actual life, but I've been having a hard time finding any other real, honest bloggers out there.
Blogging sure has changed! This post is spot on girl! xoxo!