Designer Freebies, Luxury Holidays & A Squeaky Clean Image. A Blogger’s Life Beyond The Camera Lens
Just scroll through your social media platforms, and you will be bombarded by bloggers and vloggers living the most unreal lives. Pictures of stunning bloggers in extravagant, exquisite and expensive dresses, curious travelers in the most exotic places, or even hungry foodies at the most exclusive restaurants. It’s a glamorous life they live, a life we all wished we were living!
A blogger’s selfie taking, designer dressing, free vacationing, perfect lunching life, all seems too good to be true. And not so long ago Essena O’Niel model and Instagram influencer, quit the platform admitting that her posts weren’t real; images which were described by her as “contrived perfection, made to get attention”. A world where bloggers are paid to promote products and take pictures all day until they take the (professionally arranged) perfect shot. Edited and re-edited behind the scenes and set up to look like a snapshot of their daily life, just so others can admire, and get sucked in into the world they think seem to be living.
We admit that images are only a snapshot of a blogger’s life, but it’s not quite as dramatic as Essena O’Niel had made it out to be. A bloggers life and how it’s portrayed on social media is not the greatest illusion of our time as some of you may think.
Not everything is constructed, staged and fake. The only thing that may be “fake” is the fact, that bloggers are having to play down the amount of creative, academic and practical energy they consume into a post.
Just like in Cinderella, all Prince Charming sees is a beautiful girl in a stunning dress with glass slippers rushing to get home in a beautiful carriage. Yet, he would never have imagined that she was rushing to get home before he sees her dressed in rags. What audiences don’t see, is the time, effort and energy that goes into creating that snapshot of the perfect life.
Blogging is just like any other career out there, there are pros and cons. A lot of work goes into blogging, into the portrayal of the lavish lifestyle through those “candid” pictures. Though it may involve perks, such as being gifted a new dress, having to wear it at sunny holiday destinations and taking pictures to promote a brand. It also involves painstaking, endless nights spent researching and writing blog posts and brainstorming sessions for new creative content and ideas, just to wake up to a day, full of taking perfectly staged photos, right after piling on makeup to cover the dark circles from the night before. And that’s not all, countless hours of editing to ensure they look flawless, keeping on top of their social media alongside attending events still awaits them.
There is no mention in their posts of how long they waited for the perfect natural sunlight; how stressful it was when they experienced a creative block, when their readers expected a piece which should surpass the previous one, whilst remembering that followers can instantly become un-followers. The wrong caption, a less well-written post, or an untouched photo may just be enough for people hit the unfollow button. Negative feedback from followers even if it is supposed to be constructive criticism can be upsetting.
It would seem that their home, apartment or bedroom has been transformed from a very personal relaxing environment into a pressurised working environment to be in.
With thousands of bloggers out there, we might miss the ones who are still trying get themselves noticed. For the smaller bloggers, the ones who get lost in the gigantic blogosphere, the cons may sometimes overtake the pros. For them, there is no transition period, before blogging switches from a hobby into a career; with deadlines and pressure to deliver.
However, we shan’t forget that all bloggers have to start from somewhere to build a following and a career. They keep pushing themselves, because they know that there is light at the end of the tunnel! Once a blogger has “made it” it becomes much easier. Looking at the likes of Chiara Ferragni, Sonya Esman or Kristina Bazaan, they can all afford teams to assist run their blogs, their brand and their social networks.
Once a blogger becomes successful, brands and agencies will find them, but until then it’s important to keep going! After all Cinderella did end up with her prince!
Joanna Karamanis
I’m head of Content at ZINE, where I use my expertise in fashion consumer psychology to empower brands and influencers in their marketing campaigns. I love to travel, bake as well as shopping online.
