Honesty in Blogging…yep, not a fun topic to think about when you get right down to it. But how important of a question it is to really ponder and decide how honest we really are. Or how honest we want to be. Cause let’s face it, life is not always roses and rainbows, as much as we’d like it to be. Let’s delve further into this.
How honest are you when you blog? Are you a no-holds blogger? Or do you sugar coat things to make life more easier in blog land? Are you really who you say you are? This is a tough one to answer for sure. But let’s put all insecurities aside and ask ourselves “am I really being honest with who I am on my blog?”
The more honest you are, the more genuine you’ll be to and with your readers. When you become true to yourself, you will shine. Readers look for people they can truly connect with. When they connect with someone, they’ll keep coming back for more.
A few questions to ask yourself: What makes me unique and how can I showcase this within my blog? What can I learn about myself from blogging? How much of me do I want my readers to know? What issues am I comfortable talking about on my blog? Am I willing to give my opinion about those issues? How can I connect with my readers and truly be genuine?
At the end of the day, I think you need to decide what kind of blogger you are going to be. Are you going write funny lifestyle posts? Are you going to share the latest and greatest in fashion or beauty? Are you going to incorporate a little story with everything you share? How real are you going to be on social media? Are you going to share the not so pretty stuff? Or are you going to be very specific about what is shared or shown.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with any answers you might come up with. I do think it’s important for you to figure it out. Figure out your purpose and how much of you, you are going to add into your own brand.
Check out all the other lessons in my #bloggingedumacation series here.
(Where I Party)
Honestly is an interesting thing I’m wresting with right now…honestly and privacy. Honesty is important, but so is respecting others. I am a very open person but some of my family are very private. And sometimes I forget that my honesty can affect not just me. It’s a balance between honesty and respecting their privacy.
But then that’s in life not just in blogging. In blogging it’s easier, because while I do sometimes write about my own life, I think of them more as a magazine than as a diary. I don’t need to write about everything, and sometimes I write about things that have nothing to do with myself…but yeah, when I do write about my life, it’s good not to sugar coat it.
My parents don’t say they love me either.
I try to be as honest as I can but my life is in a pretty dark place right now and people don’t only wanna hear about gloom and doom. :/ Its definitely a hard boundary to determine.
What a beautiful story! AND look who you have become 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I would be sad and disappointed if i came across a blog that wasnt being honest. I feel that i am genuinely myself in all my posts. I started this blog over a year ago because my Dad’s health is not good. He has very rare lung disease and i’m watching him slowly decline every day. It’s painful and rips my heart apart and blogging helps me heal.
I enjoy your blog Taylor and have picked up some great tips too!
Great tips! Honesty in blogging is my favorite thing to read!
Love your honesty Taylor! I learn something new about you all the time! It’s really freeing to be able to be honest I think. Love you friend!
Great post. Honesty is so important in the blog world. There are some blogs that I know I will always get a sugar coated post from and I visit those from time to time. And then there are blog post (like this one) that I will visit all the time. Thanks for sharing & encouraging us to be honest.
Oh Taylor, your story about your relationship with your mom is so parallel to my relationship with my mom. So So similar! My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in Dec of 2011. She is healthy now, but her cancer has not changed our relationship one bit.
Hugs
Lacey
I enjoyed this post very much because I struggle all the time. I write posts and never post them in fear of being judged. In the very beginning when I had Teale I was criticized for how I handled her being n the NICU, which was traumatic, and those women and their friends sometimes comment on my blog posts if I mention it or at any chance to tell me how horrible of a Mom I am again. Therefor I am very protective of what I write and don’t always post the posts I wish I cold.
I’m sorry about your Mom and I’ve told you that before. I don’t have a good relationship with my Mom either. My Aunt and Grandma are more like my parents. I posted about having “Daddy issues” last week I think.
One of my goals this year with my blog is to not hold back so much and to be more honest about how I truly feel on my blog.
WOW! How inspiring and brutally honest. I think you are a brave soul for opening up, you definitely got your point across. I just happen to come across you blog. I am just getting started on mine, I’m pretty good at “reading” people without ever meeting them and you are wonderful and so is your information. You’ve just landed yourself a new groupie! lol Honesty and trust are two very important characters in a person, and I will strive to be as honest as I possible. Thank you for sharing.