This is my 1,800th blog post.
If you look at my archives on the left side you’ll see I’ve been around for awhile. Since 2009 actually. Sometimes in the blogging world I feel like an old dog. An old dog sitting on her old couch, wrapped in an old knit blanket, drinking her old dog tea, talking about the good old days.
Let’s just say I’ve seen some shit.
Jk, I haven’t. What I mean is that I’ve seen quite a few changes evolve in the blogging world over the past seven years. And that’s just from my point of view, there’s definitely been trends that have come and gone that I didn’t even realize happened. I tend to be a little disconnected in this blogging world. I’m getting better at branching out, but for the most part I feel like I’m on my own little island trying to figure stuff out. It’s probably not the best place to be, yet it’s always where I end up.
Every time I see a new blogger pop up on Instagram who’s been around “For An Entire Year!!” and is so thankful they’ve just hit 50,000 followers the old dog inside me sighs and thinks, damn I wish it was how it used to be. When blogging was just blogging.
But then I think I’m probably just fooling myself. Blogging has never been “just blogging.” It might have been for me, but that’s only because I was behind the game (as usual.)
So here we go, here’s just a few of the changes I’ve seen take place over the years.
When I started back in the dark ages, Instagram wasn’t even a thing. And photos on blogs were good, but not crazy good like they are today.
People used to write more (I may also be romanticizing this slightly) but then Buzzfeed came around and let everyone know that list posts and how-tos are much easier to read. And probably more useful, really.
For instance I know this post won’t get nearly as many hits as when I write a “28 Things You Need To..” kinda thing. But sometimes you have to do what the heart wants.
Big old blogger giveaways were huge for awhile. And the main entry? Follow via Google Follow Connect. I need to get rid of my GFC. I know this, but it feels like my security blanket and I’m not ready to let go.
Bloglovin was just a side piece. Until Google Reader went away. (Right? Isn’t this what happened?)
The big bloggers concentrated on growing their Twitter and Facebook and Pinterest. And for a hot second some jumped on Vine.
Then Instagram inched its way it. And this was a game changer. You no longer had to have a blog to be a blogger. And now people spend less time reading blogs and more time scrolling their insta feed.
I’m interested to see what changes evolve with Instagram. At some point the numbers will be so inflated that nothing will even matter anymore. Everyone will have 100,000 followers. Or maybe not. I don’t know. I’ll just keep taking photos of my feet and hope no one notices.
Really though, the newest change I’m enjoying is snapchat. This app is ridiculous and I follow way too many people that are ridiculous and cringe worthy but I do it anyway. Like, why is everyone always just staring at how good they look while they show me their new Prada bag? I don’t care. But apparently I do because I’m watching.
Does anyone else follow people that you kinda loathe but you just can’t look away? *Sidenote: If I’m your hate-follow, just go ahead and stop. I promise I’m not worth loathing.
However, don’t unfollow if you’d like to watch my new snapchat miniseries called “Children Of Bloggers: the story of a filtered childhood and Freshly Picked mocs.” And yes, Snapchat miniseries are a thing, I just decided. My handle is @thedailytay, obvi.
What changes have you noticed over the years? Have you changed as a reader? Is anyone out there? Should I just cut this off now? Okay, yes. Bye.
PLEASE don't get rid of GFC!!!! I still love it (and haven't signed up for bloglovin yet. What kind of blogger am I. LOL.)
remember the days of Geocities? I definitely had a journal on that. and Prodigy and all that stuff. Yeahhhh old school was the best.
and goes without saying: You have THE BEST SNAPCHAT ACCOUNT EVER.
I'm with ya. Well, sorta. I started blogging in 2006 and I feel like an old dog. And I've seen many of the trends come and go. However, I never figured out how to make my blog crazy-cool looking, so I still have my old basic set-up and design with buttons and GFC and all the silliness. I still go there to write several times a week, though, even though I have hardly any followers and I can't keep up with all the changes. I just like to write. It's why I started my blog in the first place, so I guess I stayed true! 😉
Your snapchat is literally my favorite thing. My husband refers to you as the funny blogger on snap with the cool dog. I absolutely love your children of bloggers – its my favorite.
And please don't get rid of GFC! I cant handle the changes. lol
I miss blogs that had more to say than just "go buy this!" – blogs like yours and a handful of others out there. I miss reading full sentences with proper grammar and capitalization and unique thoughts on interesting subjects. So many blogs now are just a variant of the same theme, and that theme is little more than product slinging.
Please don't ever change, I'd probably give up on blogs all together if you did!
On a side note, any recommendations for other well written blogs??
"I miss reading full sentences with proper grammar and capitalization and unique thoughts on interesting subjects." – THIS.
Yes! This is so true! I don't need 100 different blogs that all tell me to buy more makeup.. seriously, where do these women keep all those products? Am I the only blogger who lives in a tiny studio apartment and only has room for one makeup drawer? Apparently, I am.
I much prefer reading blogs like this one that make me smile (or laugh out loud) and actually have something interesting to say!
-Nellwyn | http://www.thecardinalpress.com
All. The. Yes. Kait took the words out of my mouth. I just "recently" found your blog, and it makes me so happy to see someone write REAL words about REAL topics and actually have REAL humor. THANK YOU, and your fabulous writing, for being a bright spot in my day. 🙂
I enjoy Just Go Left and Sobremesa Stories for their inspiring kind of uplifting posts. Just Go Left talks a lot about her dog too. I also like Princess Burlap because her posts are written so descriptively it feels like you're reading a book. She doesn't post often, but when she does, I thoroughly enjoy her stuff.
I LOVE PRINCESS BURLAP!!!!!
I'm a different sort of clientele that reads this blog, since I'm male and not into fashion pretty much at all. The bloggers that I read I either have a personal connection with, or enjoy their WRITING.
Photos are side-effects of my blog most of the time–many of my posts are personal prose about the inner workings of my brain or my travelogues and journals.
Though I feel like Tay in terms of being on my own little island, not very connected. My blog is merely a hobby.
Oh wow, this was so cool to read! I've been around for almost 6 years (blogging more privately, but still had some followers in the good ol' days) and I agree.. there was more writing, everyone had kinda blurry photos and staged photos weren't really a thing yet. It's been hard this go-around, since I re-started blogging just in November and I'm like, "why isn't this slightly blurry pic of my kid getting a ton of likes on IG??" ha. I feel WAY more intimated now that the game has changed, and have almost given up way more often than I'd like to admit but I just don't stack up to those big accounts with the thousands of likes.. and who notices the little fish anymore? I wonder where we'll be in another handful of years..
I hardly blogged during the past year or two because I was getting so sick and tired of the same old sponsored stuff and how to posts on every damn blog. As a result, I stopped reading blogs for a while too. I decided to start writing again every week day once the new year arrived because I missed writing. I've stuck with it so far even though it seems like not many people are still out there reading. That part makes me a little sad though because I think that sense of community disappeared when blog posts stopped being about just writing.
Do not get rid of GFC!!!!! I absolutely HATE when blogs don't have that and you have to "subscribe" and all that other bloglovin bullshit. I love me some insta, but with insta brought "like to know it" and I would like to kick every.single.blogger who has that! Just tell me where your damn shirt is from! Also, where I do get a honeymoon vibes shirt from??
I just started using liketoknowit (insert crying laugh face emoji) hahaha. gotta pay for that honeymoon somehow.
I'm with you on that liketoknowit.. Every time I see that, I think, "NO! YOU give me the details; WHY should I have to go thru all the extra steps to make YOU money?" Ugh I could go on..
I wish I had kept my GFC but also not, b/c many bloggers have gotten rid of it, so I'd miss out on some good ones. Give bl a try; you might like it!
Your snapchat is one of my favorites. Izza Violet whatever had me crying the other day. You gotta do more of that! My 10 year old likes to watch your Harlow snaps as much as I do. Most of the bloggers that made me want to start blogging have quit. Like all the ones you had to pay to put your "button" on their side bar. Cheers!
Almost everyone I follow on snapchat is to hate on. Which is probably why I understand most of your snaps lol. Not saying that I hate you, no no no, not at all, but I get the jokes lol. I still don't quite know my style on snapchat, I tend to start talking to it only when I'm annoyed and need to complain about something lol. Probably not very entertaining. Also, I think your @likeit things are hilarious. Thank you for not saying we NEED EVERYTHING OR WE WILL DIE. And your style is super cute. And I haven't checked, but I have a feeling you're not trying to promote to us $92865749 sunglasses or something lol.
I've only been blogging for 3.5 years but I've seen a few changes from what I "thought" blogging was when I first started doing it. Right now I feel like my site is lost in a sea of advertisements, courses, giveaways, product placement and sponsorships. I don't do ANY of that and never will. Your blog has been one of my favorites this year because it's the kind of thing I enjoy reading: humor, observational stuff, everyday life. I know we all have components of 'selling' something but once I see a blogger pimping products incessantly, I stop reading.
PS half the people I follow on social media are due to hatred. Is there a condition for people who enjoy getting annoyed by others? I have that. (LIKE WHY CANT I UNFOLLOW KYLIE JENNER ON SNAPCHAT? WHY??)
http://www.allisonarnone.com
I even follow some of kylie's cling-ons… im really bad. and why does she always point her finger while she sings? what is happening here?
I HAVE NO IDEA. She will also post nine snaps in a row of her literally. doing. nothing. Like just staring at the camera. Meanwhile I try to be funny and creative and have like, 12 friends on that app. Life is unfair.
I hated GFC (I never used Blogger, I always had WordPress, so it was worthless for me) and I'm glad it's over. Everyone was just so worried about their follower count!
I've noticed blogging has become more sponsored, more perfect, less raw, more "look at me!," more stylized, less real..I could go on. And I have: This Is Not The Blogging That I Used to Know (http://therantinglatina.com/2015/05/this-is-not-the-blogging-that-i-used-to-know.html)
Good post!
Oh so much change in the lifestyle blog arena! This is part of the reason I left and re-branded. I feel like a lot of it now is "follow me just to follow me" and that's not really my scene. Or at least it's not any more.
Still trying to play social media catch up. You can be the 2nd person I follow on snapchat. I have no idea how to use it. And I personally would rather read a post than a list of 28 things. Let it never die!
I think that the main thing that I miss are the bloggers who have gone away. It's like friends moving away! While I love instagram, I'm still using bloglovin (sad to see you go google reader) for blog reading. I can hardly figure out snapchat, which makes me feel so old!
Things have definitely changed so much – even in the past 4 years I've been blogging! Instagram has been the biggest culprit at all. It's crazy!
I am a new blogger and I am amazed at how much things have changed. I have been following other blogs for a while and the competition is getting fierce. Most picture you see are all so professional looking and effortless. Amen to you sister for sticking to it and keeping true to yourself. I feel like some blogger are starting to lose that.
Lydia
chicandmodish.com
Please continue the snapchat mini-series! I love watching your crazy snapchat shenanigans with your dog 🙂 (my user name is jordanghetto which I made when I was drunk one time and now I can't change it…)
I feel like my posts used to be more real. and then i got wrapped up in everything and now i can't quite figure out how to write like that again. you've always done an incredible job of being yourself. i will always, always read your blog.
There are definitely some areas where I feel like we've made improvements and other areas that I feel like we kind of lost ourselves. I'm referring to us as all bloggers of course, not saying just anyone reading this comment.
I hate that my really heartfelt posts that I spent a lot of time really trying to get all my words and thoughts perfect hardly get any kind of acknowledgment, but photo heavy posts and lists get so much attention.
But Snapchat is for sure a fun app!
I've been blogging for almost 9 years and it is SO different than it used to be. I feel like it used to be more about growing a community and now it's about growing a fan base. I don't love that at all.
So different and I only started in 2011. Wow 5 years of my life. I remember when everyone had cartoonish backgrounds and you had link ups all the time. I miss just straight blogging. I mean get you can make money, but I just miss the good ole tell me about your life and where you shop because you like to not because you're paid. GFC, don't get rid I'll never find you again.
Sometimes it's easier to look at a picture and read the caption, double tap and move on. Sometimes, people click on other's snapchat stories because they want to take it off their home page, but they aren't paying attention. Those that write like you do, have real followers because they care about the content. At least that's how I see it. Keep on writing girl. You're amazing at it.
I forget GFC exists! Ha! And I'm with ya…when I started, Facebook had just gotten big and Myspace was the thing. Remember chat boards? That was the only thing I needed to connect with other bloggers and get my little ol' blog out there for people to see. Now I think I just get lost in the crowd. That's okay…it's more therapeutic than anything, anyway. Things have evolved quite a lot!
I have blogged off and on since the time you started. I remember when you confirmed my hunch that most bloggers were/are Mormon! Embrace your feet pics, wedding excitement and go for it. Keep telling stories! That's why we love blogging.
Your Snapchats are probably my fav to watch. You're silly and it's hilarious and I'm all abou tit. Tried to say "all about it" but I'm just gonna leave it at that. Because tits.
I understand the GFC security blanket. I really do. Getting rid of it kinda made me feel like the previous few years of my life were a waste. And then when I was done being depressed about that, I was depressed that I was even depressed about it. Oh, BLOGGING! And your snaps are my favorite! You make me laugh out loud. I'm jennylizdub on snapchat if you want to be blown away by how amazing my life as a work-from-home-new-mom is. Lastly…can you pleeeeeease do more of the children of blogger's series? It's just never enough. Such a tease!
this is so true. i had to rebrand my blog from my old one that i had for 6 years because i couldn't keep up with all the hight and craziness that blogging has become. back then it was just a blog and everyone's pictures were blurry and crazy. now it's all marketing and not as fun or in depth. sigh.