I feel like this title contradicts itself somewhat and you may be wondering how can you be a blogger and be private. This is something that I struggle with as authenticity and staying ‘real’ are terms that are always thrown about.
Blogging When You’re A Private Person
Some believe that bloggers only show highlights of their lives and to a degree that may be true. After all who wants to watch a vlog of someone hanging their washing out or hoovering out their car. With blogs and Youtube you are letting people into your life. There are some brilliant bloggers who document in detail how they have struggled with their mental health and others discuss family or relationship problems. Personally I would struggle with this because I am incredibly private.
I started Life’s a Catwalk purely as a fashion blog. This has now branched out to include the odd beauty post and opinion posts. I am a very opinionated person and while I will always say what I think about something, I will never say how I feel about it. As far as I am concerned these are two very different things.
My blog is about fashion etc it wasn’t started to be about me. Last year I wrote a post on why I started fashion blogging so make sure you go and check that out. I know readers like to get to know the person behind the blog and that’s fine. I’m happy chatting about where I get my hair done and what I’m watching on Netflix, but anything in depth about my personal life is out of the question. I discuss my private life with a handful of friends and that’s it. I think its great if you are more forthcoming and want to share more details with an online community but this makes me very uncomfortable.
Staying Authentic
At the end of the day I don’t like to talk about myself. That doesn’t mean I lack confidence or hate being the centre of attention, in fact it’s probably the opposite. I would much rather find out about other people. You don’t need to know every single thing about a person to know them.
To me being authentic is being the same person online as you are offline. You could argue that by not over sharing I am staying true to that.
This is a really interesting post and I agree with much of it. I have started to share more personal details (for better or worse). This is because I feel a sense on empowerment from it which I don’t get from any other aspect of my life and this helps me grow and be accoutable. We all see our own creative space differently and I love that you post exactly want you want and how you want.
Looking awesome in these images to!
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I think with me a lot of it comes down to trust. I also feel like what’s happening in my life isn’t really anyone else’s business and talking about it has the potential to open up a whole can of worms. Maybe I will feel differently in the future though particularly if I felt it could help other people.
I used to be a very private blogger, but a few years ago I shared a post about an abusive relationship I once had, and to this day it is one of my most popular posts, with people finding it every day. People send me emails saying they really appreciate how I spoke up, and how they don’t feel alone. I decided to, when I can, write personal posts on subjects and hope that other people can feel less alone. I completely understand your stance and I think that it’s something bloggers should decide – is my brand one that gives out personal stories, or not? The beauty of blogging is that we’re all different. And I very much enjoy your gorgeous fashion photos each time!
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That’s great you got such positive feedback. I think it is good to share particularly if it will help others. In a way I think I would be more open if it was complete strangers reading my blog. I’m not so keen knowing people I used to go to school with occasionally read it. I think for the time being I will be sticking to more fashion related posts, who knows in the future!
This was really interesting – there’s no right or wrong is there really, as long as you share what you are comfortable with then that is being true to yourself. Completely understand your stance, I haven’t shared personal things either but I do have a couple of more personal ones planned that I want to share in the next few weeks so I’m interested to see how they go down. There’s no obligation to anyone though in my view, you just do you! 🙂
Sophie xxx
http://www.sopharsogood.com
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I do think it’s quite nice to share particularly if it will benefit others. Maybe I will learn to be more open?xx
I am also private in the sense that I would rather about brands and showcase products rather than plaster pictures of me all over the blog and social media. However, I am trying to find a good balance. – http://www.jamilakyari.com
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I’m better about posting pictures of myself but I’m not sure I will ever be happy talking about myself. You never know how things will turn out though.