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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.

 

 

Quiana

Friday 13th of April 2012

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.

keyalus

Friday 13th of April 2012

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!

BossyGirl

Thursday 12th of April 2012

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..

Veronica

Thursday 12th of April 2012

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

adrienne

Thursday 12th of April 2012

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.