The Awkwardness of Explaining That You’re A Blogger
Hi! It’s so nice to meet you! I’m Sophie. I like cats. And cheese. I really enjoy shopping for clothes. The 1975 are my fave band (a bit emo I know) apart from Oasis of course. I live in London. Oh? You asked my job? Sorry. Well I, er, I’m a fashion blogger. So yeah, yeah, I put photos of myself on the internet. Wearing clothes – obviously wearing clothes! Ha, I’m not a porn star. Brands sometimes pay me to do it. And I write about my life. Yeah yeah I know what you’re thinking “what a narcissist!” Hahahahaha lol. Please. Don’t. Judge. Me.
Ugh. This conversation happens so often my brain simply autopilots to repeat the above like a rehearsed monologue of self-justification, self-deprecation, and downright awkwardness. But when you see the look in people’s faces when you tell them what you do for a living and you might as well have said you fart Britney Spear’s Fantasy perfume exclusively on Fridays.
And then sometimes, just sometimes it gets worse, when they misunderstand and ask
Oh so you’re a model.
And I’m like
No, no I’m not a model.
But you wanna be a model yeah?
No, no, I don’t want to be a model.
Ah ok….
*awkward shuffle*
But you wanna be famous though yeah?
Oh for fuck sake.
And I get it. Blogging is a job that didn’t really exist so long ago. Yes you had Susie Bubble and Chiara from the Blonde Salad as the generation of bloggers that paved the path for success in a totally new domain, but the past four years has really given rise to the era of the ~influencer~ – a seemingly vague and elusive term we all tag onto anyone with 10k+ Instagram followers. And with the rise of people making a living by blogging, YouTubing, or solely of Instagramming, it’s an entirely new territory that people don’t know very much about.
You get the social media cynics who start a character assassination calling it (and you, as you are your job and your job is you) fake, inauthentic, vacuous, narcissistic (these guys also usually think that you have no education because you don’t need a degree to set up a blog) and seal the deal with a “oh yah well I don’t use social media as I don’t believe in it”. Not only are us bloggers heralding the death of style (cheers Vogue), but we’re killing off modern culture, selfie by selfie (every time we use a hashtag, a struggling independent artist signs on the dole). And the conversation takes a dark turn when they start to ask about your relationship with your parents.
And if that fails and they’re a bit of a dick about it, just tell them you’re a model and enjoy their facial expression as they try hide their shock and disbelief. That’s always fun.
lol I loved this x I do get people ( especially family) being like "but why do you take photos of your house"? some people just aren't worth the explanation.
Lol loved this and your light sense of humour
Hahah I loved this! I absolutely hate explaining what blogging is to people because 80% of them just don't get it and assume! Mental!!
Megan xo
Thumbelina Lillie | UK Beauty & Fashion Blog
I used to feel awkward about telling people I was a blogger. I even kept it a secret for a long time! But now I totally own the fact.
🙂
Chichi
chichi-writes.blogspot.co.uk