Today’s post is about forced positivity online which is a roundabout way of saying that it’s about how some bloggers (and vloggers) only share the positive parts of their lives. Does that mean they’re not being real with their followers or simply that they’re choosing to only share what they’re comfortable with sharing?
A few months ago now I was pottering about making the tea and I overheard some snippets of a YouTube video that one of the kids was watching and it made me think.
It was about whether YouTubers were forcing positivity on their viewers or whether they were portraying ‘real life’. It was quite interesting at the time but I didn’t think a huge amount about it until Miss Fugal made a comment about my Instagram account being much ‘prettier’ these days.
She was only joking obviously but she made a good point and there’s a good reason why my Instagram is mostly filled with images that I hope will inspire positivity in the people who come across them as they scroll through all of the other images on there.
It’s because I love Instagram and looking through everyone’s pictures and about a year and a half ago, I decided to make my own Instagram feed a happy and positive place – I do that for me though not for anyone else. I don’t look at Instagram as a place where I can share my blog and get more page views but I do choose to share pictures and words on there that makes me happy and if other people enjoy that, then that’s an added bonus.
Does the fact that my Instagram feed is filled with flowers, puppies and cake mean that that’s all my life is made up of? Absolutely not!
I choose not to share the negative parts of my life online but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any.
This blog is another example – I write about frugal and thrifty living but that doesn’t make me immune to the joys of a new handbag or a nice new pair of shoes. I don’t necessarily share everything with you though so whilst you might see my meal plans and my five frugal things posts, that doesn’t mean that I’m always thrifty and frugal.
I don’t choose to leave these things out of my blog deliberately and will share them if I got a good deal or I think you all might be interested but I would never want someone to look at this blog and feel as though they could never be a thrifty as me – trust me, you totally could!
I’m not 100% sure what the point of this post is other than to say that you shouldn’t think that people online are as perfect as they might seem – remember you only see what they want you to see.
PS – the video I was watching was this one from Alfie Deyes:
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