A couple of years ago when I started blogging it wasn't a very competitive industry. Well, I call it an industry for lack of a better word. It really isn't. Not until companies stop asking bloggers to do things for no compensation but let me just stick to the point of this post. There were only a few of us bloggers attending fashion week and we all knew each other. A lot of us even struck up friendships from that time of meeting on the sidelines of fashion week. Personally, I was attracted to the blogosphere because here was a free platform where I could be heard without having to be commissioned by the mainstream media where one's opinion will often be censored. Here I can be myself without reservation. I can say what I like or hate about any brand without upsetting 'clients'. Most of us never thought of advertising revenue that comes with blogging, let alone the fabulosity that I believe has now choked blogging, making it nothing more than a surefire way for some to just get invitations to events and to pose with celebrities as if they are their buddies. This is why every Tom, Dick and their dog have a blog. Tweeting about how fabulous life is on the front row and at VIP parties makes it worth it. No doubt this works well for publicists who can just claim that such posts are exposure for their clients, but really, it adds no value to a broader conversation about anything!
I'm no doubt starting to sound like a lot of my fellow journalists used to when blogging first became a 'thing'. Bloggers were seen as nothing more than a bunch of freebie-chasers and I have to say, for me, looking at myself and several of the bloggers I know from when I first started; some of them are more dedicated to their craft than I can say for a lot of journalists. A lot of them have unique voices and have carved out a nice niche for themselves. These days, however, I can certainly be forgiving of anyone who calls bloggers whatever name; glamourzon, freebie-chaser, whatever. More bloggers than ever are attending fashion week but more and more there are less and less street style reports to look at. Never mind the show reviews. It seems people are just there to schmooze. Many take weeks to post whatever work they may have done at fashion week and I'm sorry to say but weeks later your work has no worth. The internet and blogging itself owes its success to being that place people go for instant news or, at least, unique content. I don't see what value you are adding by posting your story weeks after even the weekly mags and the news media have exhausted the subject. This is especially true if you are not necessarily giving a fresh perspective on anything; 'Look at what I did two weeks ago' just doesn't cut it! Who are you? Why do you think anyone cares? Bloggers have had to work hard to earn the sort of credibility some of us enjoy today and I am proud of that. It just annoys me to see that bloggers that pop up almost everyday these days seem to have no concern for taking this medium forward. All they seem concerned about is hanging out at parties with Jen Su. Am I the only one who cares about adding value to whatever environment I am operating in?
