Let's Just Talk About Trump.

Or more accurately let's just talk about bloggers talking about Trump.

There's been a lot of discussion in the last week or so since that fateful inauguration about President Trump, his policies and the call for condemnation from political leaders and bloggers alike. Bet you never thought those two would be put in the same sentence.

Theresa May isn't the only person who has been hounded to speak out about whether or not she agrees with the Donald's policies (particularly THAT travel ban) and FYI I think she did need to give a statement. She's OUR leader and the public want to know if it's something she's fine with in case, in the wake of Brexit, she decides that's a stance she fancies taking when we get to control our borders too.

What baffled me was the big Twitter discussion on bloggers, vloggers and influencers and whether or not we should be voicing our opinion online. I think quite of a lot of it from the bits I dipped in to were the call for people like Zoella, Tanya Burr, Alfie Deyes etc etc etc etc to use their influence to speak out because let's face it, their reach is enormous and a lot of people felt they could use their fame for good.

I totally get that, I totally get why people want celebs to speak out because we want important people to speak for us. Our voices are tiny but multiple voices make a difference, particularly when there's a figurehead speaking on our behalf.

What I don't get is the condemnation if you DON'T speak out on it.

Theresa May was held accountable because she leads this country. Bloggers don't. I don't know if you knew that but half of Twitter didn't seem to.

Sharing a political opinion shouldn't be a requirement because you have an online influence, it should be a choice because it's something you believe in. God forbid someone shared an misinformed opinion to their millions of followers. Surely an educated, researched opinion should be shared because someone believes in their convictions instead of an uneducated opinion be shared with impressionable followers just because someone called for it?

I haven't been shy of sharing my opinion on some controversial matters on my blog, something I never thought I'd do but something I wanted to do because of the political storm of this year. I wanted to share an opinion just as word vomit, to get my own thoughts out of my head.

But I did a lot of research, I formed opinions on my own, I did a lot of reading around the topics and I took a genuine interest. My opinions came from an informed place and I still stand by them and why I shared them. When it came to my EU referendum post I left it completely unbiased and focused only on facts to help people form their own opinions, just because mine were already made up.

I think it's perfectly fine to share a political opinion on your blog if it's something you believe in, that's why you write a blog after all, because it's an extension of you. I also think it's fine not to want to because you don't care, you don't feel educated enough, you don't know how to express what you mean. I also think it's fine not to share an opinion because you're afraid of the backlash, hell we all know what a Twitter storm can do.

As ever, you do you boo but don't call someone out just because they did or didn't do what you wanted or expected them to do.

Some of my favourite bloggers have written posts on a similar subject lately, you can have a gander at some of those over here;

Let's Chat Bloggers & Politics - Hey There Robyn

Should Bloggers Discuss Politics? - Tea Is For Tina

Do Politics and Blogging Mix? - Abbey Louisa Rose