THE GRAPPLES OF MODERN DAY BLOGGING

THE GRAPPLES OF MODERN DAY BLOGGING

Meaningful Content Versus Everyday Musings. What Works Today and the Grapples of modern day blogging? 

Sorry for the radio silence over here, i’m not sure what’s happened lately but it’s fair to say despite having loads to share with you, i’ve struggled to put the proverbial ‘pen to paper’.

It’s actually down to not having the time to make every post ‘meaningful’ and the shackles of wanting to only producing meaningful content creates for me. I’ve asked you time and time again what you enjoy, and I know the mix of purpose driven content (tips, guides, advise whether it be styling, career, photography etc, and informative posts) with everyday posts with little to know meaning or purpose is what you say time and time again (let me know in the comments?). I often just feel like ‘why would anyone visit’ if I wasn’t sharing something useful?

It’s silly really because half the blogs I love and read daily actually often post a blend of content too, and I’m as interested in a random style post with no tips or structure as I am an in depth article on their blogging careers or photography tips.

I think because the industry has changed so much since 2011 when I started, it often makes you feel bad going back to those ‘basic’ roots of simple diary edits and non-perfect, non-editorial style photos. But perhaps more than ever, that’s actually what people want, seek out and find appealing about the bloggers they choose to engage with. The strive for editorial quality, perhaps took the personal touch away, and that ‘realness’ is what drove the industry in the first place.

The grapple of modern day blogging!

That all said, the positive feeling of sharing a post (like my last one for example), can soon become overshadowed with my worries that i’ve ‘let myself and my site down’ because the imagery / content wasn’t truly my best. Like I have let it slip with something of no value or with images that aren’t ‘perfect’. A constant grapple …. be more real, share more, get back to basics  versus content i’m proud of, editorial with meaning, visuals worthy of vogue.

It’s no doubt a common feeling, whether you’re a blogger or not, it’s that self doubt in your delivery. Is it good enough, should I have done more, is this what people want, will people like it, did I fail. It’s a rather boring and cyclical mental grapple. It holds true of instagram too … although whilst I worry about what I’m doing there, I’ve learnt that it doesn’t matter anyway, whatever photo I put out it never ‘succeeds’. Images i’ve spent hours on, the perfect photo in my eyes, could get barely seen in the mass void that is instagram. Equally an image I ‘hate’, that took no effort and that in technical terms is pretty poor, will still fail, but might fail less than the image I thought was better. It’s a very confusing thing.

It makes me worried for future generations. For young people and their mental health. I have a full time career i’m proud of outside of my blog and instagram, and i’m 31 years old, but even for me I can see how the ‘social approval’ impacts me, my self assurance and drive to create and share.

Recently i’ve taken to producing and sharing anyway, letting go a bit I guess (like my last post I mentioned). But like I said, then we go back to the shackles of worrying i’ve let things go too much, that I should have kept things editorial.

You see the grapples? Exhausting.

Regardless though, I still adore having my space on the internet. I’m more obsessed with photography and broadening my work than I’ve ever been before, it’s something I am hugely passionate about and my blog is, if anything, a chance to share my visuals.  I’ve definitely started to share more ‘diary style’ content and not just editorial style features, i’d love to know how you find the blend? Whether you prefer the editorial focus or welcome the balance. I shan’t be stopping any time soon, and always love to hear what you want to see more of.

I’d love to know what you think? As a reader of mediamarmalade, as a blogger perhaps yourself? What content do you enjoy reading these days? Do you prefer the perfect tutorial, or sometimes just an emotional download like todays post? I’m forever interested … and want to continue sharing here and on my instagram.