Everything but bold

bold woman jumps over mountain
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It feels like I’m already blogged about the same subjects on this blog several times. I’ve noticed posts about job search hasn’t interest people that much. Well, recently at least. It’s OK. It’s mostly blabber anyway. Most of the time I don’t even remember what I posted in the past. But who does? Unless they have a very good memory. Human brains can’t handle that much information. It doesn’t matter really if I wrote things before because new followers have found this blog just recently. No one has that much time to go back in the past anyway. I do have 951 posts after all. Sorry for boring you with details like that.

What I was about to say is, I’m a lot of things but bold I’m not. Unless it’s in writing. In real I’m really not. I never say my opinion to people I don’t know. I just can’t do it because I don’t want to hurt their feelings. When I was a child people thought I’m also quiet at home. But I was definitely not. Just ask my father. At home, I’m a totally different person. There I can say what I think. When you’re in public you need to show some manners. You can always show them rude gestures when they’re not looking. But I wouldn’t say bad things in people’s faces. But if they are rude to me, I won’t hesitate to defend myself. Treat other people the way they treat you. Or walk away if they look threatening.

If I had been bolder in the past I could have been something more but I was too much of a coward. It wasn’t lack of encouragement. My parent was really supportive. Maybe boldness skipped a generation. My mother went to Sweden when she was young. Relatives live there. My dad started his business during Finland’s depression and still works even if he’s retired. Of course, their life was different from mine and they’re a different generation. I’m always been stubborn and did things my way. I even learned to walk when I felt like it and not because my parents expected me to. I could have been more flexible when it came to decisions. Like with summer jobs as a teen. I took part in a summer job lottery once but I didn’t get a job so I didn’t try again. I just wanted to relax in the summer after all the school work I did. The idiom, look before you leap, is almost my motto. Except all I do is look and see all the things that could go wrong. I’m not totally afraid of doing things. I did travel alone the first time when I was 17. Studying in a different city or town is one kind of boldness. Luckily I lived in a dorm so I didn’t need to find an apartment. I did get home at the weekends but still, I did live in another city. I have never travelled abroad alone though. Except if you count school trips but those were hell anyway so they don’t matter.

Starting a blog is bold. There are people who are afraid to start one but for me, it’s been a natural thing. It’s easier to write than talk. You don’t need to follow the crowd. Blogging can also be just a hobby. It shouldn’t only about profit or being like any other blogger out there. Boldness can also come from not being afraid to share a piece of your inner world to others. You don’t need to write about your personal life if you don’t want to. Blogging should be fun and not something you have to do. Maybe I’m a little bit bold after all.

Not fishing for compliments

fishing
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Social media is a big part of our lives. People are always fishing for compliments. If it’s likes to a photo on Instagram or a video on Youtube. Just a mention a few. But not all of us are ‘victims’ of this popularity contest. Of course, it’s always nice that you get noticed by other people but that’s not the reason you post of social media or in blogging. Having the freedom to post your ideas or showing something to others, if it gets likes or not, is good enough. Social media is for everyone and not only for those who want attention.

Personally, social media hasn’t given me what I hoped for. It’s just been a tool and that’s what it really is. You read about people finding work via social media. Or at least how to get noticed by employers. But I guess it’s just luck and I have none. I mostly use Twitter and Facebook. I don’t really care about other social media platforms. I only use Instagram occasionally because I only have a tablet and isn’t any good. I watch other peoples post but hardly post myself. I tried to post via a computer but I didn’t get any likes so I wonder if anyone even saw it. When I post there I do get some likes but nothing newsworthy.

I prefer blogging over all those social media platforms. Most of them are superficial. In blogging, you can go deeper into your thoughts. My blog isn’t media sexy but it’s not supposed to either. I’ve written about it before but I say it again. I always wanted to have a different blog from the others out there. There is already enough of these food, fashion and lifestyle blogs. I leave those for people who actually know something about it. All kinds of blogs are needed because their written by different people and have different views on the matters. This is my 6th year of blogging. The first year in 2013 was short so I don’t count that. A lot has happened then. Not bad for someone with a “boring life”. I’ve been in WordPress over 10 years which I wrote about the 10 anniversary here. I’ve learned a lot since I started. Went from free to personal plan, is one change. And of course, people have found this blog, so thank you. So blogging has given me so much more than any social media ever have. I don’t need to fish for compliments, I let my writing do the talking.

Having copious of followers doesn’t mean a thing

desk with things on its side
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Yesterday when I was scrolling my Pinterest feed, I came across a pin about why companies fail. There was this tip about having followers on social media etc. It was about a business but it’s good advice for blogging too. Having copious of followers on your blog doesn’t mean they actually read your blog. I always say the quality is better than quantity. You can have thousands of followers but you can never guarantee how many of them actually read the blog. Maybe some only collect followers so they can feel good about themselves. Blogging is not only for reading but also for interacting with others. I can understand if you don’t know what to say or you’re shy about leaving a comment. I don’t always comment on other people’s blogs either. Only writing ‘Great post’ isn’t really constructive. A like is better than an unimaginative comment.

There is a lot of tips about how to gain more followers but you can forget that. A lot of those tips are about how to get customers. Not so much about blogging as a hobby. Getting followers is a marathon. It takes time. Some blogs might get more in a short time but for some, it takes longer. It’s not a competition where the person with the most follows in a week or a month gets a big prize. Promoting your blog on social media is waste of time if you ask me. If your blog is on WordPress, only people who also are on it can follow your blog. Correct me if I’m wrong. None of my friends on Facebook or even on Twitter read blogs. I don’t think anyone has found this blog on social media even if I post there regularly. Especially on Twitter. It’s like talking to a wall sometimes. It’s more likely to get readers to your blog through WordPress Reader than on social media.

Having followers and having readers is two different things. Many celebrities have millions of followers but how many of them actually read what they write. Maybe people only follow them because it’s cool. None of these celebs interacts with their fans for real. How would they have time anyway? Sometimes you can see some of them responding to their fans. Like Pink or Stephen Fry. It’s not an issue for them if people are followers or readers. For them, it’s just sharing things. For us ‘normal’ people it’s more important. Maybe not everyone but some of us rather have readers to our blogs than just followers. We want to share things but we also want interaction. You really can’t wait for people to find your blog. You have to comment on other people’s blog post too. This is something I forget about it myself. I try to reply to every comment I get. If I don’t, at least I like the comment just to prove I read it.

Having too many followers and following a lot is a bit superficial. No one has that much time so they could read every blog they follow. I would rather follow a blog if I actually read it. Some people brag about how many followers they have. It’s really off-putting. You got to have some dignity and not sell yourself short. I wonder if these people ever got enough attention at home or why do they have such urge to get noticed. If you want to become an internet prostitute, be my guest. Most of us want to keep our self-respect. Our life is not about how many followers we have. Having copious of followers doesn’t mean a thing. It’s about people who actually care.