Let’s Talk Bookish: Blogging Insecurity

I’m back this Friday participating in another Let’s Talk Bookish post, as always hosted by the amazing Rukky @ Eternity Books and awesome Dani @ The Literary Lion! For this week, our topic is: Blogging Insecurity.

The official topic is “Blogging Identity Crisis,” which I also think totally fits. “Blogging insecurity” is just a little shorter, so I am using that (look at me, trying for brevity and shit). It is one I could definitely talk about for PLENTY of time, so let’s see if I can manage to not write a novel.

Let’s discuss!

What is Blogging Insecurity?

To be, blogging insecurity (or, having a blogging identity crisis) is something I’ve experienced more than once. But, without having a formal definition to lean on, I would think of it as: an experience that makes you doubt your ability, quality or identity as a blogger.

Personal Experience

My experience with it actually ties directly into labeling. For me, I felt proud to be a book blogger, yet that label felt confining and restrictive. It resulted in me having two blogs at one point (a personal and a book blog). I eventually combined them and deleted the old one, yet similar feelings and security popped up again recently! Honestly, I think it’s something we can all feel and it isn’t uncommon to pop up!

The Good and Bad

In some ways, I think it is a good to have an blogging identity crisis. Some positives that can result from it include:

• Evaluating your goals, intentions and vision
• Becoming inspired to revamp or rebrand
• Listening to yourself and knowing what you want, and fitting your reality to that vision

For me, it positively resulted in going self-hosted and doing a rebrand!

Yet, it’s not all smiles and positivity, either. It can be a really stressful experience. It can lead to feeling doubt, insecurity and lowered self-confidence. If you start to look at others and think you have to do X thing to be a “real” blogger, then you can fall into comparison traps. It can lead to burnout and hiatuses or feeling inadequate–or even quitting all together! None of that is good to experience.

How to Deal With It

However, I think if you are dealing with blogging insecurity, it’s important to really listen to yourself and identify the why. Is it because you’re actually not pleased with your content or how you’re spending your time? Is it because you don’t like the layout? Are you falling trap to the comparison game or feeling locked in by labels? Identifying the why can help you figure out next steps. It’s never a bad thing to step away from blogging or realize it’s no longer serving you the way you hoped. It’s also not a bad thing to revamp, restart or make other changes to help reignite your passion (that’s what I’ve done, time and time again).

What is important to do is never let your own mental health be sacrificed for blogging. It can be overwhelming and disheartening, at times. It’s important to take care of yourself and always make decisions based with that in mind.

In Sum

I think having blogging insecurities are almost guaranteed and a natural occurrence, if you’ve been doing it for long enough! It can be a positive or negative experience with different outcomes, but no one should ever feel ashamed in experiencing it! What about you? Have you experienced having blogging insecurities or an identity crisis before. Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!