Is The Blogging Community Supportive?

I'm sure your overriding answer is immediately yes. 

I feel like there are very much two camps of blogging communities. There are the teeny tiny bloggers and the 'micro influencers', the ones who talk about how ace the blogging community is and the slightly bigger influencers who stick with their clique and tweet a lot about 'the good old days of blogging' when there were, uhm, less of us. 

I have found myself firmly in the first camp since I started blogging properly in January last year and started taking more of an active part in the blogging community probably around this time last year. 

I found myself in Twitter chats almost every night with like minded people, having conversations, building a following and finding new people to follow back, having a laugh, making those connections that would later become actual real life friends. 

I would 100% have said the blogging community was one of the most supportive I have ever had the good fortune to find myself in. I think it requires some effort on your part to kick start it, I see a lot of people saying they can't get their 'in' but I DO think it requires you grafting and getting in those chats until it feels natural to strike up a convo with someone over Twitter. I think the sheer number of mental health bloggers and that entire segment of the community is proof enough, it's very inclusive and very supportive when people aren't feeling their best. 

But lately I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been questioning how nice the blogging community really is. There's been a lot of drama lately, I feel like at the moment it's week on week over something or other and whether it's justified drama or not (like the blogging bot scandal), it inevitably get's nasty. 

As with any community, especially as one communicating 24 hours a day, a difference in opinion isn't all that surprising. We don't all like what eachother has to say and that's absolutely fine - if it was left to a chat, a discussion and a conclusion or an understanding. 

But ohhh no, we're largely a community of girls and for risk of a stereotype (which was all know is true don't lie) - we're bitchy. It gets nasty, it gets personal, it ends up in a full on out and out war and ya know what, we suddenly don't look all that supportive. 

I didn't like to do it when I first started out, I liked to give everyone a chance but these days, as soon as I see one shitty tweet I'm out. I've been unfollowing like nobodies business the past few weeks. I'm just so done with it. Being a dick? Spouting your shitty opinions? Causing ANOTHER argument? I'm just gonna unfollow you hun. 

I don't have time for it, I don't need to see it, my timeline is worse for it. Just unfollow. It gives us all a bad name when we're at eachother's throats and I know if I was a brand, I wouldn't want to work with someone like that. (Although we all know brands can be shady AF but that's a matter for another day). 

In short; I think yes, the blogging community IS overwhelmingly supportive.....if you find the right people.

As with any community there's a few loose ends, a few less than desirable characters and whilst we all love a winge and a moan and we all disagree sometimes, not everyone needs to get so. damn. personal. 

Find your people, find the characters you absolutely love, the ones who make you feel ace and the ones who shout about their genuine love for you and your blog. And then do it back for them. And then do it for another 10 people. And some more. And before you know it you've edited all the nasty gals out of your feed and you're squad is strong and suddenly the blogging community is the most supportive group of online friends you've ever had.