Bonjour gorgeous, happy hump day. How crazy is it that it is already August, I feel like it was only Christmas 2015 about a week ago... At least I have an excuse to shop even more now though as this years presents aren't going to buy themselves!
Lets think about something that is incredibly different for all of us... Who's in the know about your blog? Some people are incredibly open about theirs, others keep it a complete secret and some of us are even totally anonymous! Respect guys, when I first started out I wanted to remain "anonymous" but I found it exhausting! So, which basket do you sit in?
I'm personally a bit of a mixed bag. On 1 hand, this blog is written under the name Libby. Funny story that, when I was doing the whole "must be anonymous and be the next gossip girl - yay xoxo" thing, I didn't even have a title and didn't want to use my real name, so I used Libby. Libby is what my nan called me when I was younger (mainly, I think, to piss off my parents!) that has always stuck, I don't hear it much today but every now and then she will call me Libby "by accident", I don't have an issue with it, we just grew out of it I guess! So, Nan, this whole blog really is for you! My name is very similar to Libby though, don't worry, it's not all been a total lie! So yeah, anyway, from this respect i'm in that list of "anonymous" bloggers... I do post the odd selfie here and there, but nothing that will leave you bored to tears.
*Inserts shameless selfie*
Now... Who know's about Love, Libby? Well, really, this blog is not so much of a "secret" anymore. Some of my family members know, and a couple of my friend's. There are still a scary amount of people in my life that don't know, though. Not necessarily because its a top secret FBI case file, mainly because it's just never come up in conversation, literally! When Love, Libby was just a few posts old on an awful template I felt like my blog was not good enough to be shared with my personal life, but everyday my confidence is growing. With numbers going up each month and almost 400 of you beauty's following me on Bloglovin' I have come to realise I don't really have anything to hide, no one does! Blogging is all about being yourself and putting out what you want to put out.
For my complete and utter obsession of all things makeup, yep, I know what Mac lipstick you're wearing just by looking at you...I have never had anyone to share this with. Sure, Becky with the good hair owns 3 lipsticks and Jess down the road know's how to apply her mascara with no clumps, but that wasn't good enough for me. I needed more. I needed somewhere to go on and on 'till blue in the face about 1 tiny little product, without people getting bored. Unfortunately, for me, but like many others, the only place to do that is online. Connecting with other like minded bloggers is so much fun, and much more interesting then just breaking an awkward silence with your friend using the sentence "Hey, so I write this blog I've never told you about hehehehehehe" for them to say "Oh right, cool" and the awkward silence return!
I suppose I'm 50/50... Like, (I say like a lot), if someone found my blog, and asked about it, that's cool, they know about it. I'm just not willing to just blurt it out in conversations! For example, thanks to this lovely new Instagram update - In which, Instagram have clearly bumped their heads and decided they are now Snapchat - I can see that my work colleague has today viewed my "story" but not liked anything or followed me... That's fine. I'm not gonna say "why you on my blog though?" I'll just let it all pan out for itself.
I do, purposely keep my blog & personal life very separate, I have separate Instagram accounts, Twitter accounts, the lot. That's not because I don't want people to know, though. That's just because I do this for me, not anyone else, and really, as long as I'm happy with it, I don't really care about what the girl I was best friends with at aged 15 really thinks about it. Plus the fact I have before been asked questions like "if you ever get some free stuff shall we split it"... No. Unfortunately a lot of "non bloggers" don't realise that nothing in life is free, even if you are a blogger. Yes, a company may have sent you something... However that doesn't mean you've got it for nothing. It can be incredibly time consuming testing the product a few times so you have a solid review, taking photo's you are happy with, writing a post you are happy with, promoting said posts and even sometime's doing so to meet a deadline. With blogging, you get out of it, what you put into it. All these blogs you see have not been personally designed to acquire free bits and bobs to share with your friends, they've been personally designed to give you that sense of accomplishment when you do finally finish that post you've been working your arse off to make perfect. Or the sense of value you feel when you see people enjoying what you've written, commenting on your posts and telling you that you have inspired them. Yes, at times, bloggers are gifted some incredibly generous bits by PR companies, but it's like any job... I bet you'd get a free burger if you worked at McDonald's - wanna split it? Blogging, to me, is generally like having a second job - and that's coming from someone that posts as and when they can rather then scheduling!
Your blog is what you make it, it really is. I guess that's why everyone's preferences are so different. I am a super nosy person though so I'm dying to know all about who does and doesn't know about your blog! Lets share stories!
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I absolutely loved reading this and I'm the same, I really like knowing whats going on with people and their blog because there's so many different preferences! I definitely agree with your standpoint and see why many people do that. At current my real name isn't on my blog but the real me is with my face etc haha, although not many people really know about it in my life and I don't publicise it to them. It's my hobby and my thing, that keeps it special to me. My parents know I do it but haven't seen my blog, my boyfriend has seen it but doesn't pay much attention and a close friend or two know about it but I don't think people really fully understand if they aren't subject to the blogging environment & communities! Thanks for sharing this post, really enjoyed it
ReplyDeletePandora xo
http://curiouslilpandora.blogspot.co.uk
I agree, if people don't do it themselves they have no idea! My mum saw mine for the first time the other day and was shocked that "oh it's like a website?" I think she thought I was keeping an online diary on an app or something and just speaking to people about it haha! xxx
DeleteI love this post a lot! I am so proud of your blog and that you are starting to share it with friends and family. I think you need to as your little blog is amazing!
ReplyDeleteSo proud of you :)
Steph xx
Steph’s World | Lifestyle Blog | www.stephsworld.com
Thank you my darling. My confidence would not be growing half as much as it is if it wasn't for relationships with other bloggers such as yourself! xxxx
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