Blogster

It is an interesting thing, considering the last post on this particular blog was, at her own personal request, about Lady Felicity Katherine Hainge, that she would pester me into starting to write once again. And, in a similar vein to previously, the only content she suggested was a continuation of the praise heaped upon her last time. So, although I may attempt to move away from this topic (purely for variety, of course), it is thanks to her that I have bothered to look for something to write about at all.

Being totally clueless about what to write actually led me to thinking about blogging a bit more. It seems to me that anyone who's anyone (or at least believes themselves to be someone) has a blog. But, having literally just read that sentence back, it isn't actually anyone. The first thing my mind goes to when I hear the word 'blogger' is cool, hipster types in London wearing fake glasses and totally retro 90's denim, taking photographs of their outfits that day in front of a distressed brick wall, saying what/who they're wearing (totally not cool or hipster if the answer to 'who' is anything other than 'vintage') and why it looks so great and calling it writing. I'm sure this is not representative of the blogging as a whole. In fact, I'm completely aware that it isn't. But it's at the very least a partial public face.

I read the other day that Bip Ling (a fashion blogger that must be pretty big because I have heard of her) feels under pressure to produce a blog post at least once a day. AT LEAST. Surely that is what Twitter is for? Demonstrating your writing ability/sartorial eye/comic nuance a few times a day in short little snapshots and then giving everyone a proper, thought-through piece of writing on whatever your calling in life is using enough words to give your readership something to actually sit down and read about. And surely, if you feel pressured to write about stuff more often than you're comfortable with, then it takes everything away from blogging that makes it different to just being a freelance writer dependent on commissions and deadlines to pay the rent; the freedom to discuss, express and shout passionately about the stuff you care about without worrying about whether the Times will go for that particular slant or not and whether you should offer it to the Daily Mail instead. (The answer to this, by the way, is always a resounding NO, unless you're Samantha Brick and/or enjoy writing the sort of bollocks read only by those who have nothing with which to enlighten their lives other than outrage and judgement.)

Maybe I'm missing the point. After all, why should blogging be all about writing? Why shouldn't it be about sharing photos of your outfit every day if that's what makes you feel happy and creative? I'm sure there are arguments which pinpoint exactly why it shouldn't, and actually, if I was in less of a good mood, I'd probably be ranting opinionatedly about it. As far as I can tell, having looked at this in what I think you will agree was an extremely academic examination, blogging seems to be about putting a little piece of yourself out there. But not in the same way as you do with Facebook and the like, because in order to even upload a blog post you have to have something that you can express in more than a swift sentence or single photo. It has to mean something, even if that something is just the expression of how you are feeling that day via the slightly interesting topic you've been pondering recently. What it certainly does is make you feel raw and exposed, even if you know you only have three mates who read your blog - you've willingly put a part of you that probably projects more about yourself than you know out into the universe, potentially forever, and people will think whatever they want to think. That is actually quite liberating (until someone tells you that you are tedious and boring, or that your totally amazing new vintage dress from Camden market makes you look like someone playing a bag lady in Oliver!, and suddenly you're not so sure).

Perhaps I should make the effort to do this more, and somehow I will work out what I want to get out of it and realise what everyone else gets out of what they blog about. I'll at least improve my writing skills - one seriously hopes - and maybe even discover an actual THING to write about. Until next time...