Perfection: A Rant
This post is a rant. Just so you know……
I know you’ve seen them.
Hell, you might even be one of them.
Those “perfect” bloggers:
- The Perfect blog: posts everyday, perfectly written, with thousands of readers who hang on to their every word.
- Blogs filled with Perfectly exposed, Perfectly photo shopped, Perfectly clean and happy homeschooled, clean eating children. ( Because on top of this, you cook a homecooked meal EVERYday. You even plan your meals out 3 months in advance!)
- There is always a happily Perfect husband who “supports everything I do.”( And he’s gorgeous too.)
- Perfect kids who always obey, always look great in photos, and are just plain Perfect.
- Life is Perfect and everyone is happy happy happy.
Who are these women? Stepford bloggers??
I’m always looking for new blogs to read and follow and I KEEP coming across these type of blogs. Why do they have such large followings? I ask myself.
Why do we as fellow bloggers follow perfection in mass? Why do we read over and over how perfect someone is, how perfect their life is every day day in day out?
Is it an escape? Do we read for tips? The fantasy? Wishing we were like them?
I must say, to me, it’s boring. And annoying as hell.
Annoying because as I get into trying to make a little bit( just a little bit) of cash from my blog here, I notice that all of the opportuities and sponsherships and reviews go to these bloggers. How is a normal small REAL blog like me to compete?
Is it that we don’t want to read real? That the fantasy of a mom out there doing it all is what we want to read? What brands want to read?
I don’t know about you, but I kind of like reading about people’s imperfections. I like reading about tips for organizational skills and recipes and parenting ideas too. But I want REAL life experience too. Maybe because it helps me see that others are human. Just Like Me.
Word Up Homie!
People tend to try to be perfect or positive all the time like nothing bad happens to them. Their are people who just love positivity at all times and don’t like negativity and rants as we call them. I don’t mind being positive and trying to look at the bright side but sometimes you just gotta be real and some people don’t live in that world.
Girl I don’t read those type blogs period. I love reading real too. Maybe that’s why I don’t follow that many blogs.
I’m not really into that “extra perfect” shit anymore either. At first, it was something to aspire too, but not that I’ve settled into my role as wife and mom, and I SO not interested in perfection. I’m interested in sanity, lol!
Well, my blog is just me, definitely not perfect, but I’m cool with that! I definitely feel you though!
I also wonder about the blogs that have that many followers, but I say, to each his own. Maybe its a way for people to escape their own lives. Maybe it’s a way to have someone to look up to. I dunno.
Personally, I enjoy reading blogs about real people, with real problems just like me. It makes me feel like all I have to be is myself and not try to “compete” with anyone else or try to play catch up.
I think everyone feels that way about these “Perfect” blogs. I followed some and then all of a sudden they bust out and tell something crazy they have been dealing with. If I follow someone that has a “perfect” blog, usually like there fashion or decorating.
Word.
The “real life” blogs that I follow are just that. People talking about their life and all facets of it…so they talk about the good, bad and the perfect. If I have a “Perfect” blog that I follow, its one that the subject isn’t about their life.
I hope you don’t change the tone of your blog to become “Perfect” so you can get the thousands of followers! I love reading about your life – as it is.
Nah man, they don’t do it for me either. I can’t deal with the illusion. We are all grown and know that NOTHING is perfect, so faking the funk turns me alllllllllll the way off. I’ve made no efforts to monetize my blog, so I have no advice for how to get you more. *lol* Keep pushing, praying, and right opportunities will come along. I trust and believe that.
Ditto! Folks have told me I reveal TOO much but its MY blog. I do what I want to with it. You keep doing you.
Inknow I’m in the minority but my blog isn’t a space for keeping it real. At all. My husband has a career I may have one another day. What is said here lives forever not judging but I have NO idea why some women share what they do. I cannot imagine my husband having to explain to anyone some crazy ish I wrote about “real life” then again I’m pretty boring and have a pretty calm life these days.
The reason why they get the opportunities is they have the time and money to invest in their blogs. Many of them have marketing backgrounds or other blog friendly type background like advertising etc that provided the foundation for their knowledge and allowed them to SEO Network and fine tune their blogs to exactly what readers today want.
I’ll never ever be someone that shares deep things about my life on the Internet. It doesn’t make me fake. I have real life interests that I value a whole lot more to protect.
Now there are a ton of bloggers that are huge that make me cringe Dooce? Bloggess? Scary mommy? They’re not perfect at all. People love them. Me? I respect their hustle but I’d never put anything like that out there.
You. Have a full time job. You can’t compete. Do you. You do it well xo
Girl…that’s why I try to keep it real…and for the most part it’s worked and I’ve gotten to work with companies and represent brands.. Continue doing what you do and trust me those old boring blogs will not be “what’s hot” any longer..
I agree with Veronica. The people doing all that “extra” put a lot of time and effort into making that stuff happen. Either their blog is their job or they are not employed in the traditional 9-5 type situation like most of us so they have more time on their hands. If you are making a regular salary from your blog, I think it should be a little more “perfect” than the average blog. Plus, I would imagine that there are some strings attached to working with certain companies and sponsors. They look for a certain brand and revealing too much might mess up your brand.
Sometimes, I think it would kind of be nice to have free trips fall into my lap. Then I remember that I’m just not that interested in doing what it takes to make all of that happen. I barely have enough time to post regular blogs! Besides, I have a career that I enjoy and I have no desire to make a living in that social networking/marketing/freelance writing arena.
I read blogs of people I can relate to for the most part. 90% of those people don’t post every day or have perfect photos. Keep doing what you do!
FWIW, I think your photos are always gorgeous!
Coming from an advertising background I definitely think the appeal of reality TV has crept into the world of blogging/social media. Brands are definitely looking for a “type” as annoying as it is because bottom line for them is about eyeballs. I also think that we have a celebrity-centric society with many who are striving for their 15 minutes of fame in any way possible and portraying/packaging yourself in a certain way plays into that – false advertising and all.
I follow a whole gamut of blogs – some to aspire to or be inspired by and others because they do keep it real. I think it’s so fascinating that we are so “transparent” now in our society passing our sometimes intimate thoughts off for everyone to see. Myself, I do keep some things for private in my journals and remind myself of my own personal reasons for blogging.
Finally, a few things to share:
-Design Sponge had a great recent post about not falling into the comparison trap: http://www.designsponge.com/2012/04/biz-ladies-how-to-escape-the-comparison-trap.html#more-133613
-I’ve noticed a lot of these “shiny, happy, perfect” blogs tend to be Mormon and there’s definitely a more sociological aspect as to why that is which the Salon so interestingly covered here: http://www.salon.com/2011/01/15/feminist_obsessed_with_mormon_blogs/
-The parody blog entitled http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/ a making fun of the “perfect blogs” (but has since stopped posting) is really hilarious – you should check it out!
Overall, I always remind myself that I have no idea what is really going on behind the screen. As an example, Young House Love which is wildly successful has “pulled back the curtains” at times to give details about how much time/effort goes into their blog and seriously, I wouldn’t trade what I have right now for any of that as much as I like their blog.
I’ve found that keeping my nose to the grindstone and not changing who I am to garner followers has worked best for me. With anything I’ve noticed if I try too hard I don’t get the desired results but awesome opportunities/accolades/success comes my way when I’m hunkered down with tunnel vision.