Now, although I'm not the type of person to tell anyone and everyone that I do in fact run a blog, I'm not so pressurised into hiding the fact I have one and certainly, am more open in what I blog about.
I remember a friend in my old Media class last year. She'd found out I had Twitter and wanted to add me. I remember coming out with this explanation of why my username was Rebecca-Books, why there was a URL and why on the 'About Me' page there was a big fat picture of myself. Having confined in my friend of the blog, I was on the verge of expecting a weird look, a furrow of the eyebrow and then an 'okay then...' and that would be the end of our short friendship.
So when she said 'Oh really? That's so cool!' I have to admit I was little dubstruck. Hang on, roll back time, did she just freaking say that a blog was cool? Not just any blog, a BOOK blog. Although now, some readers could be like 'Urgh, why is she so obsessed over the idea that having a book blog is weird?' Well, from personal experience, being a teenager, the idea of openly loving books as much as I do is classed as a no-no in the rule of adolenscene. Even now.
When I was 15/16, in my 'form time' I didn't talk to anyone. I was THAT girl. The one in the corner trying to amuse herself for those dreadful 20 minutes each day. The one that would listen into conversations around her. The one that would be the first to volunteer to somehow get out of that misery. I had friends, sure, but just not in my 'form' class. So when I came up with the idea of being a book and reading in that time and wow, people were amazed that I did that. There was this one girl who I wouldn't have thought liked books or reading but every time I had a new book, she'd always ask me about it, with what I think was a genuine interest. Anyway, I was known as a 'neek' then anyway so this just enhanced that. So that was a full-on experience how reading is associated with geekiness and being a little bit weird.
And so was blogs. Or so I thought. Remember all those TV programmes with the science/math geek who always had a blog, they would say 'I need to put this on my blog'. It just seemed like something people with (and sorry for the stereotype) glasses, braces, fizzy bad hair, bad social skills and amazing at like everything would have. Which is probably why I think I joined (I think anyway) just before BC (Blog Coolness) arrived, waaay back in 2010. I remember having the reaction I described above at the end of Year 11, beginning of Year 12 when a few friends found out about the blog.
So where am I going with this?
Well. While perusing through the latest Company magazine and hearing that the next issue is about the 'Super Bloggers', it struck me that people think blogging is a really really cool thing to do now. Flocks of girls from my college will rush to get this new Company magazine, get a subscription to a magazine that has suddenly focussed on becoming a blogger. It sort has become any blogger's bible to how to be successful like many other bloggers before them. Why the sudden amazement in bloggers? Well, look at some of THE fashion bloggers - Susie Bubble, Bipling, Carrie from WishWishWish - they've almost become huge celebrities in their own right, most teenagers know who they are, they feature alongside Hollywood actresses and models in fashion magazines and they have a lot of influence in the fashion world. It's amazing really that they were able to achieve that from doing something that they love plus something that was always associated with being uncool and geeky.
So I'm talking more about fashion bloggers making blogging cool these days but we have to have a look at book bloggers too. What blogger hasn't heard of The Story Siren? Or The Broke and the Bookish? They were like some of the first blogs I found. At work, I look at the reviews and praise section at the front of books and more often now, I see book bloggers quotes from a review - a lot of the time blogs that I follow myself. I remember times when this praise would be 'James Smith from The Telegraph' (made-up by the way) saying now amazing said book was. But now, when I see a quote from 3 or 4 blogs I love? I'm actually more inclined to want to read the book due to THEIR enthusiasm for said book. I know I've said this but I'm just in awe of how blogging has evolved from 2010 when I started Rebecca-Books. Now, there's so many people out there blogging about anything and everything and everyone's like 'Sure, that's cool!' when in 2010, the weird looks would be piled high in my direction.
One last point I think that has made blogging so cool and hip in the invention of Tumblr. Now, I think those that count Tumblr as a blog are wrong. Blogging is typing and writing your thoughts on life, books, fashion - whatever. Not posting countless pictures that are just pretty or mean something to you. IT'S NOT BLOGGING (as you can see I have personal opinions on this issue).
So nearly every teenager has a Tumblr and those that don't at least know what it is, or is supposed to be. It is a way to express yourself and it is this obsession or interest in doing so in a creative way that has really I think made blogging that much cooler. Tumblr is for those that are cool anyway (apparently...) or at least associated with those types of people so with these so called 'cool people' 'blogging' then everyone's like 'Wait, blogging's a good thing? GREAT'. It's something to think about, the way that's happened without anyone noticing really.
And that concludes my rant or discussion, whatever you would like to call it. I'm so glad that I don't have to feel embarrassed or flustered to have a blog as much as I did at the beginning of my blogging career but I do think sometimes we need to step back and think about wonder why these attitudes have changed, in teenagers at least.
I'm Rebecca, I'm 17 years-old and I run a book blog. And am proud.
Over and Out.
(Let me know what you think on this topic, I'm interested to hear!)
