It’s safe to say that blogging and the landscape of social media has changed drastically since I started using it all the way back in 2010/2011. I still remember posting to Instagram for the first time thinking…I don’t even know what I’m doing. And I didn’t. I had posted a photo of hair tools on my bathroom counter (a sight that has remained the same through the years LOL), but I legitimately believed that Instagram was just a photo editing tool for making your photos have certain filters on them. See what I mean – I had no idea what I was doing or that other people could even see my stuff. Never in my wildest imagination did I even think about connecting social platforms to share blog posts, after all, I was just posting about my life – who cares?! It was like I had all these separate entities and I just kind of used them haphazardly. Like I said – blogging and social media has come a long way – both good and bad.
Today I want to talk about the good – the people. I’ve shared before how my blog stemmed from a senior project in college and I had dabbled a little bit with Twitter prior to that, but like I shared above, it was all these separate entities that I had never connected before and my blog was more or less an outlet for my family to see what I was up to. When my blog started to gain traction and I realized that social media was a good vehicle for that (face palm), I started doing more than getting page views. I started building a community. I began “meeting” new people, whose lives I was following online through their own blogs and social media platforms and relationships began to blossom. Before I really knew what was going on, I found myself invested in first dates, engagements, weddings and more for people who had become more than just a website – they had become a friend.
When I talk about blogging or social media to friends and family members, I often get asked “Wait is this a real friend or an internet friend? Have you ever met this person?” And if you have any online presence at all and are reading this, you are likely nodding your head or laughing in agreement. The reality is that because blogging has become such a “thing” (popular? trendy? I’m not sure the right word to use here…), there is an entire community of people online who have become friends. We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we’ve shared wins and losses, weddings and babies, hardship, celebration and so much more.
I feel that in life, there are so many opportunities to meet new people and that blogging is kind of like one giant mixer or speed dating event. When you find your people – you just know. In 7 (gulp!) years of this space, I’ve met a phenomenal group of women who I’ve networked with, met in real life, gone on vacation, text, call and just generally “do life with” and that..I have this space to thank! So whether you are new or have been here since the beginning – I’m so glad you are here.
If you’re a blogger or active on social media, what is your favorite aspect of it? What prompted you to start?
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