There is always a lot going on in the blogosphere, but recently I feel like there has been a bit of an explosion. As a blogger, I am very lucky to say that I receive such a small amount of hate and very very rarely receive nasty comments. But how odd is that? To consider yourself lucky to say that you don’t receive abuse?! I mean if my sister came home from her IT job and told me she had a good day because no one called her fat or ugly, I would just look at her in such shock. Yet in the online world, its perfectly normal.
When did it get to this point?
Recently Lydia (I am sure you all know her) shared her story of online abuse. And I call it abuse because it has just gone too far. These people have harassed her and her family, attempted to get her arrested for tax evasion (SORRY WHAT) and have falsely reported her to the ASA. (here is the link to the tweet) Its shocking to see this reality that some bloggers have to go through. And what help do they get? They get told to ignore it, to not add fire to the flame. We are told that they are ‘just looking for attention’ and ‘not to rise to it’. When all we want to do is scream LEAVE ME THE F**K ALONE.
I wonder how sad these people’s lives are that they try SO HARD to tear other women down.
As bloggers, we were never prepared for a life of abuse, name calling and attacks. When I started my blog back in 2014 it was unheard of to have such a big audience. It was unheard of to be receiving gifts from brands and it was unheard of to be getting hate. We didn’t "sign up for this" and there is no manual that tells us how to deal with online hate. We have just been thrown in the deep end and told to ‘forget about it’.
But what happens when we stand together and bring each other up? As a blogger, I see the importance of supporting your friends, sharing their content and celebrating their success. I love reposting fab pics and shouting the praises of my fellow bloggers. I see the effect my reposts have on other bloggers and the friendships that have been made.
Recently Hannah Gale shared her favourite instagrammers (all under 10K) and I watched as each individual gained 100, 200, 300 new followers. Their tweets of gratitude to Hannah filled my feed and it really warmed my heart to see a big blogger bringing up smaller bloggers in this mad world. Even more recently, Lydia shared in her insta story one of my blogging best friends, Beth Sandland. Being a blogger with over 600,000 followers, Lydia gave Beth a small chunk of that. She showed her support to a smaller blogger, and as a result Beth gained 6,000 followers.
It honestly warms my heart to see bloggers supporting one another and being able to celebrate each other’s successes. We are living in a world of jealousy and hate, and that’s something I want to put a stop to. Women need one another. Women need to empower each other and women need to support one another. If we didn’t live with that, then what are we left with?
Next time you are scrolling through your insta feed, take a little extra time to tell that blogger how great their content is. If its sponsored, give them a give WOOHOO for creating such great posts that someone wants to PAY them for it! If its a thought provoking blogpost, retweet the link and share with your own followers how great they are. If, as girls, we stand together, we really can rule the world.
