The Secret Life of Bloggers – An Open Letter to Civilians

Do you think you know us?  Just because we put ourselves out there on the internet, you may think you know everything about the people who write for your daily online feeds and entertainment. But I bet you don’t.

If you aren’t one of us blogger souls then I invite you to sit by my knee and hear the story of the unsung heroes of the Internet. 

• Some of the greatest thinkers out there are not always scientists, academics and authors of the written tome? Great ideas and insights come from average people who write for the internet. We are often recreational bloggers. Some of us blog for pay, but nobody is rolling in dough.  (If your blogging is making you rich…PM me K?)
• The best of the best women bloggers advance topics of importance to the modern human. Feminism, social commentary, politics, advocacy, human rights and many other topics that aren’t being discussed in main stream media. Others talk about poop. Some of us do both. 
• Bloggers stand up for each other. And sometimes we don’t. The classiest of us are supportive and positive with our comments and behaviours as we interact with each other’s work. The worst of us are no better than basement dwelling neck-bearded trolls. The bloggers who make a point of casting shade on each other are run of the mill assholes with inferiority complexes. What they don’t know, but now you do gentle reader, is that the blogger community is tight…it sees all, it reads all. It rats them out.
• There is a sub-strata of women online known as “Mommy Bloggers.” What used to be a cute term for the stay at home mom with time on her hands has morphed into an economic force with its own gravitational field. Companies trying to get their products into the homes of families had best start taking their TV ad budget and making it rain money on these bloggers. A good product that moms like will sell. Simple.
• We live for our blog readership and social media stats. It sounds so needy just to see those words in black and white, but it is fact. We obsess about how a new post is doing. Even the rock star bloggers care deeply about their results. Especially the paid ones, they parlay views into advertising dollars. The more people see your site, the more shampoo and wine gets sold by the advertisers. Those of us who are writing exclusively for fun also depend on our readers for validation. We stare at the screen with our mouths in a perfect “O” watching the ticker go up counting shares, likes and comments….or is it just me?
• Another thing, pumpkin, we aren’t in this to agree with you. We write stuff for the care and keeping of the Internet, for our own amusement, or to stir shit up. Usually we don’t expect readers to hurl abuse simply because they are different from us. You can decide if you want to engage or not. Don’t want anybody to tell you should vaccinate your children? Then don’t read a blog that calls you on your shit. Think your pet is as good as a child? Great, go out and buy it a pram and don’t read a blog that is a send up of fur babies. If you must comment, no need to be abusive. 
• Bloggers talk about you. We discuss our favourite readers and commenters who make us feel somebody is out there loving our words. Your appreciative remarks get shared in groups of bloggers….and so do your nasty ones. Blockety Block Block and Report.
• And finally the big reveal….the best, most awesome parties on the planet are at blogger conferences. We get real, we get jiggy with it, we are on point and we are a subculture of our own. We educate and support each other, we coach and help….and then we cut loose. I am prevented by Guido and the blogger mafia from sharing pictures but let’s just say shit goes down (picture me looking cool when I say that).