Friend Friday- 21/1

As I mentioned at weekend, I have joined Friend Friday. This is basically a group of bloggers who, each Friday, answer the same set of questions. The questions then appear on Katy's blog with a link to all of our answers. I'm really looking forward to doing this as I love to embrace the blogging community and also because I like to do things on my blog which are more than just outfits.


This week's questions are about authenticity. Here is what Katy had to say about it...


"Some of you may have read on my blog that I met with a researcher this
week who was studying fashion blogs. At the end of the interview I
asked her some of the common themes she was seeing through all her
interviews. One of the most interesting things she said was that the
majority of the people she has spoken to value authenticity in a blog
but interestingly enough the definition of what makes something
authentic varies greatly. So, of course... that got me thinking about
FBFF questions for the week. "


So, here are my responses on the topic. To read what other bloggers have to say in answer to these questions go here :]]]

1. Most readers and fellow fashion bloggers value authenticity in the
blogs they read. How would you describe blog/blogger authenticity? 
I think authenticity is about reflecting yourself in your blog and whether or not your blog is just something you do as a hobby or for fun, which is fine, or whether it is really a big part of yourself and your life. Some people blog as an escape and use pseudonyms or anonymity to detach themselves from their blog and other people are very open and honest on their blogs. I think in regard to fashion blogs there has to be a balance. Of course there are some great fashion blogs that are purely fact-based and not personal at all, but some go the other way. I think it depends on who the person is and what the purpose of their blog is.

2. When it comes to your blog how to you infuse it with that true/
authentic feeling? 
I am a pretty open, honest person. I like chatting to people and I admit, I do occasionally over-share. I try to be careful in regards to my blog as I link my blog up to Facebook and ergo many of my people are friends from "real life." My family also read my blog. For that reason I try to be honest about who I am and my life, but I don't share my feelings too much on my blog. I feel my blog is a reflection of myself, however, so I try to ensure my readers have an idea about who I really am outside of the blogging world. I think I represent myself fairly realistically.

3. Have you stopped following a blog in the last three months? What
made you lose interest? 
I stop following blogs for a lot of stupid reasons. I know my spelling and grammar isn't always amazing (damn typos!!), but if a blog is consistently lacking in good spelling and grammar I may stop reading it. I admit though, I don't like blogs that are too personal. I tend to follow style blogs so if little of your content is about style I may stop following. I also dislike blogs with really, really bad quality pictures. To be honest, if I don't like a blog I'll generally just stop reading it instead of stopping following. But that's mainly because I'm lazy!!

4. We can't communicate effectively on our blogs, something we don't
live in real life... what are some ways you try to live an authentic
life? 
My all time favourite quote is from Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk, my favourite book- "Nothing of me is original, I am a combined effort of everyone I have ever know." What I mean by this is that I am different depending on the people I am with. I am completely different with my home friends back in Manchester than I am in Birmingham with my Uni friends, and similarly with my American friends and my boyfriend. It's not an intentional thing, I just behave differently around other people, but I am still me. I try to stay true to myself as much as possible and accept the things about myself I can't change. Sometimes I act, or don't act, in ways which I know are untrue to who I really am, and so I try to avoid this as much as possible.

5. Give a shout-out... Which bloggers do you think are truly genuine
and why?
I love Tieka's blog, I feel as though I really know her and what she gets up to. I love following her and Brett's adventures- I feel as though if we met we'd really get on!!