Day 155 - What makes it real?

Just prefacing this by saying this is an opinion post. My opinion. Might be yours, might not be. But either way, don't get all butthurt about it. Thanks. :)




So Gogo pointed us over to this post on NWN earlier today. Not for the article itself, but for the comments.

"I have such a hard time taking the whole fashion and models thing in SL seriously."

Well, who asked you to? No one.

"Why are there no blogs on SL vehicles or weapons?"

Because no one has bothered?

"Or rather aspiring for free promo clothes from the creators, isn't it?

Obviously you've never been a fashion blogger or you'd know that most of us spend a LOT of money putting looks together. Most of us are not blogging freebies.

"Most fashion blogs aren't even real blogs anyway: those bloggers don't express themselves, we never hear about their inspiration for this and that look. We never know anything about the blogger's personality (or probably the lack thereof). They just make a pretty photo and if we're lucky they tell us what they are wearing."

What makes a REAL blog?

Yes, writing can make a blog. It's like an online journal. Some people want to know you through your blog - what you do, what you think, etc. There are the fashion blogs where you see why someone chose what they did. But there are other blogs. There are photoblogs that show just a picture and credits. There are video blogs. There are microblogs [like Tumblr or even Flickr].

Now, personally? I do wish people would do more writing. I like knowing things about someone. I miss all the personal blogs where people talked about things. I know there aren't really that many left in the grand scheme of SL blogging, not like there was when I got this blog started. There are many more fashion blogs, and yes, I do wish people wrote more on their fashion blogs. But some don't and that's their business.

Having both a personal and a fashion blog gives me the opportunity to see both sides of the coin there, so to speak. Trust me, it would be EASIER if I'd just do a picture and some credits on my style blog, and I do it once in a while if I'm terribly short on time. But I'm not into fashion blogging for free stuff. MOST of us who have been doing this for years are not. Yes, you always get new bloggers who immediately want to be on all the lists and get all the things without doing any work. You'll know them right away. They're the ones who ask for "sponsors" [don't do that] and try to get invited to every single event immediately. They're the ones who fizzle out before most of them are even eligible to get on most of the fashion feeds.

Ask the long term fashion bloggers. We sign up for events only if there is an open call. Very few of us ever ask designers if we can get free stuff from them. Most of us are on the lists we're on based on our work or the friendships we have made - and we prefer it that way.

Personal SL blogging is so different to me. I can come in here and say whatever I feel like because I'm not on any feeds. I am more free. But there are days when I've done nothing in SL worth talking about. Days when all I want to do is a photo. And there are days, like today, where I have a lot to say. I get notecards or IMs sometimes from strangers who liked something I had to say, or didn't like it, or who just want to talk to someone. Let's face it, it's hard to make friends in SL these days, it seems like. With everyone either stuck on platforms or hating the club scene, it's not as easy to make friends as it once was. So they read my blog. They get to know a little bit about me. They feel like they CAN talk to me because, after all, I'm no different than anyone else. I'm sure other "personal" SL bloggers get the same treatment.

If there is a type of blog you'd like to see - WRITE IT YOURSELF. If there is not a blog for guns or cars or clubs or landscaping or people who love facelights, then you might have to write it yourself. Or you know what? If you're a creator of such things, read the feeds. There are several. You can even find a listing of them on this page.. Look at the pictures, read the blogs. Find who you think takes nice pictures or writes well and send them a notecard and a sample of your work. Ask them to visit your event or club. Just because someone never has blogged a certain thing doesn't mean that they never would. And if they don't? That happens, too, even to the biggest of designers.

I guess my point here is that just because a blog is bad, or uninteresting, or has no writing on it - it doesn't make it less real than any other kind of blog. It's just a different kind of blog, and there is always room for someone who wants to try their hand at it.

Except for the facelight blog. Don't do that.