I actually really like blogging.
As a teenager, I religiously kept a Livejournal for years, posting something every. single. day. In a different life, I would have transferred those skillz over to a less angsty platform, and made a shot toward becoming a professional blogger.
In a different life.
But 2011 found me living out of a car, and once I saw the world from that angle, I never recovered from it.
Just as well, really, because in interim a number of blogger-culture quirks popped up that make my teeth hurt.
I don’t read many blogs now. A few years ago I enjoyed crafting blogs, until I realized that the quality of the actual crafts was dropping precipitously, while those popular bloggers were publishing how-to books that were teaching sloppy techniques. They didn’t care about the crafts; they cared about monetizing.
I’m enough of an arteest to believe that money comes second to artistic integrity. I won’t try to sell something that I was too lazy to put any effort into.
Sometimes I wonder how many other people care. I wonder how many other people are tired of vapid content generators that are concerned more about page views than connecting with readers. I wonder how many people are like me … if anyone.
I like blogging. I’ll probably start putting more energy into it from now on, simply because I’m tired of hiding who I am for fear of being hurt. I just refuse to be anything other than me, especially for a paycheck.
By Autumn Rain 
I love the bloggers who put their heart into what they do. They, shockingly, feel like people. Some of the blogs I’ve followed became big with a huge number of followers and, while I’m happy for them, I also stopped reading them be they became less them and more what readers wanted and their posts no longer held much substance. Similarly, I see a lot of blogs trying hard to be big and go straight for vapid content, but there’s no heart behind them. I love what you said here and I look forward to your future posts.
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I don’t know how many times I’ve said, “I liked so-and-so until they became popular.”
And the blogs that devolve into nothing but giveaways and links to other blogs are a huge disappointment.
I solemnly swear, “Not me!”
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That’s fantastic to know! I’ve unfollowed so many blogs lately because of it. I respect their monetization goals, but quality content is also important.
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