The Importance of Being Yourself in Blogging

One of the hardest things about being creative in any way is putting yourself out there. Creating something, making it public, and then getting feedback in front of anyone and everyone on how well you’ve done can be terrifying.

For some people the self-doubt of being yourself in blogging can actually be crippling.

The best creative work though, whether it’s through paint, writing, film making, whatever, is always when you’ve put all of yourself into it.

You don’t realize how challenging it is until you give it a shot when it comes to posting more private material.
Typically, you worry about what other people will think.
Your father, that coworker lady, an old buddy from school, a complete stranger, and the PR professional you hope to work with someday are all viewing the same article and interpreting it according to their own standards of morality and values.
As a blogger, you may have some degree of control over what you publish, but you can never fully predict how it will be received.
The idea of people consuming my work and never actually understanding who it is makes me feel uneasy and strange.

It depends what kind of blogger you are but this blog is part of my livelihood so I do need to think about brand partnerships in some way.

I work with brands I like, use and try not to be too salesy about it, just to introduce you guys. If the work from here dries up it’s back to plan B i go – but it’s the right brands that I want. Ones that want to work with me, not my numbers.

Blogging for your reader

As a blogger you’re writing or producing for your reader, so muting yourself or censoring seems pretty pointless no matter how much you want to work with brands. If being yourself in blogging means sex, drugs, or drink, not as many brands will want to work with you, obviously. But that’s your thing, that’s you. That’s what the readers keep coming back for, which is ultimately why you’re on a PR person’s radar in the first place.

Blogging is a way to create your own narrative. To say what you want to say and be who you want to be without anyone else editing you or dictating. The freedom of voice and choice is one of the greatest things about blogging, and why there’s no doubt in the fact that people are moving away from traditional media.

But, you can’t control the way that people receive your narrative, or how people identify you.

I’ve met quite a few bloggers now who seem nothing like how they appear on their blog, either in looks or personality. Did they set out to deceive? Probably not but I’ve built up an image of them in my head, sometimes even putting them on some sort of pedestal which is never a good idea.

You can only ever know a small part of someone you read or watch online. Even your best friend is only showing you a small part of who they are and it’s up to you to connect the dots to make up the rest of who you perceive this person to be.

The fear that people won’t like you, is a horrible one. You’re a real person living your life and expressing yourself online and then people who don’t know you come along and judge you for your life choices, it’s not a nice feeling. They don’t know you. THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH.

he Spice Girls. They were named by a magazine journalist to make distinguishing them apart easier and that was that. However hard she could try Scary could never be Posh and Sporty could no way be Baby. Their future was set, with all the associations that go with it. Their control over how people saw them had gone.

its the Same with blogging, people will interpret you how you want and if you try to worry about it, or change it, you’ll go mad.