From Blogger to Influencer: How the Blogging Landscape has transformed since 2010

When I first started blogging at the end of 2010 there were far fewer bloggers and it was only just starting to become popular. I used my blog as a place to showcase my writing and share my life aswell as any bargains I’d found, within a space that didn’t have a character limit. Over the years blogging gained momentum quite rapidly and fast forward to 2018 and every other person seems to be blogging. This coincided with the rise of social media and its eventual takeover and spawned a new type of blogger: the influencer. The influencer typically looks a certain way, travels to exotic locations various times per year, often wears expensive designer clothes or accessories, looks Kardashian level flawless with rarely a hair out of place, regularly visits cafes, bars etc that provide the prettiest backgrounds for their images and portrays a life that most can only dream of. (Life goals if you will)

Blogs used to be a backlash against the glossy magazines with their picture perfect aspirational lifestyles. I enjoyed reading blogs because I could often relate to the voice of the person writing and could see myself going to the same places, wearing the same kind of outfits and living a similar life. The world they blogged about was attainable for the everyday person and it was refreshing for the stories of ‘normal’ people to be out there in the public domain. There are still bloggers out there keeping it real and posting relatable content but they aren’t getting the recognition they deserve and are becoming further few and far between. The cookie cutter influencer takeover seems to be drowning out the voices of many other bloggers who need to be heard.

It’s as if most of the successful, mainstream bloggers have become just like the people in the glossy magazines who I struggled to relate to. The blogosphere in a sense has almost become what it originally set out to challenge. The painstakingly set up and professionally photographed and edited photos wouldn’t look out of place in a high end magazine and as aesthetically pleasing as they are, I just can’t fully relate to them. I understand that some blogs are a brand and they need to portray a certain image in order to sell the products they are promoting and I also appreciate the level of work and skill that has gone into these posts but I feel like things have gone slightly too far. It makes me feel like my blog and social media posts, featuring pictures taken by my boyfriend of high street outfits (most of which aren’t brand new) or about me living day to day life just don’t cut it in comparison. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.

For me, part of the appeal of blogs was reading about the ‘girl next door’ and giving a voice to ordinary people with ordinary lives. Somewhere along the line we’ve lost sight of this. There is room for all types of bloggers and I’d like to see more reality, diversity, everyday locations, pared back beauty and just variety in general. This isn’t a pop at the bloggers who have made a successful business out of their blog or social media. it’s more a plea to give everyone a chance. Try to make sure your feed is a mixture of different types of content. If more people followed smaller bloggers who post varied content then everyone is more likely to get the airtime and recognition that they deserve.

P.S. I’ve purposely left any pictures out of this post. If you read until the end then thank you for your time 🙂