I’ve been spending less time on Twitter this week than I have in months. I don’t have a grand, sweeping issue with Twitter or social media or Facebook or blogging. I’m just struggling to connect and feel at ease with my place in this space.
I know I’m not the only one. I’ve seen beautiful, aching blog posts lamenting the shifting atmosphere. I’ve seen ping-pong conversations echoing back and forth on Twitter—branding, brands, money, writing, bloggers, shenanigans.
I feel like a ping-pong ball myself. I’m not particularly committed to any one idea or how things should be. On any given day I find myself thinking, indignantly, like a little girl stomping her feet, take me seriously, damn it! Then an hour later I’m rolling my eyes thinking, stop taking yourselves so seriously, damn it.
Why is it such a big deal who gets paid for what? Mommy Blogging isn’t an industry. Some people are “doing it” the same way but for the most part, isn’t blogging about being an individual? Sure, we have community and we communicate with each other but aren’t our efforts by nature specific to our own lives and situations?
(I know. I’ve whined about standards and how I don’t think bloggers should in general do certain things like mislead readers or support brands they haven’t researched well. I’ve remarked many times on the state of the blogosphere in general.)
(I am nothing if not inconsistent.)
But seriously, if Blogger A gets paid for doing something, that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s set a wonderful precedent for all the women to follow in her footsteps. And if Blogger B does something for “free” it doesn’t necessarily mean she’s slapped progress right in the nutsack.
If Blogger C just writes her heart out and creates beautiful content because it makes her soul sing and gives her a voice or makes us laugh, that doesn’t mean the entire state of Mommy Blogging is going to become an idyllic creative commune. With hugs and cupcakes and thoughtful comments.
I’ve been letting myself get burnt out on these endless, cyclical discussions instead of just focusing on why I am here. The reasons I am here are unique to me. I am an individual with a blog. Some of the things my peers do might reflect on me and some of the things my peers do won’t reflect on me at all. Sometimes I’ll just write and sometimes I’ll post pictures and sometimes I’ll talk about a cause that’s important to me and sometimes I’ll be serious and sometimes I’ll be silly and sometimes I’ll sell text links in my sidebar because I can.
After a certain amount of theorizing, I think we all start to lose our footing. We end up jogging in place and getting red-faced and out of breath and if we’re out of breath and all worked up how are we going to remember our words?
This may or may not be related:
