The #bbloggers hash tag and why I am so fucking sick of this.

Posted by on Tuesday, July 19, 2011

#rant
#profanity

This is soooo long overdue but I've been holding off on posting it in the hope that things may get better. Which they haven't. Last Sunday's chat had me hysterically clicking the 'block profile' button in the hope that all this spam would just go away from my timeline. I barely remembered to do this:

 I know that's not even correct grammar in the context of my sentence but I was that angry. That extra 'e' can go to hell.

I DON'T EVEN LIKE THIS SONG THE BOYBAND ARE SO DUMB AND THE DANCE IS RETARDED

OK. This has been going on since probably the second or third #bbloggers chat. I'm not going to printscreen any individual specifically but I'm so sick of how bang on nine o clock there is an influx of 'wow great chat here's my blog link hiimwastingbandwith@blogger.com'

FUCK OFF. GOD.

It is so incredibly rude just to sit there and be like 'Well, that was great. I'm going to shamelessly self promote myself at everyone else's expense now! *flips middle finger at other beauty bloggers*' especially as many of the main offenders don't even seem to take part in the actual discussion! Recently, there's even been a lot of 'Ah, I missed the chat! Oh well, here's my blog link.'
I know lots of people seem to think that it's 'alright' because there are so many fools doing it that it looks like the norm, but just because lots of people do it does not make it 'alright'. By whatever arbirtary concept 'alright' is. I'm defining it. Don't like it? I can recommend you some (good) K-pop. Nothing by the boyband you see above.

Just because the chat is officially over, doesn't mean people are done talking - the chat often continues for an hour or even two after the official end. #bbloggers encompasses people of many different time zones who may find it easier to join in the chat a little later than the majority and also want to talk to other #bbloggers. Is it really too much to ask to leave the link spamming out, so they too can enjoy a conversation? Same as for those who've been busy during the chat and wish to catch up. On the last chat before Fee gave up leadership of #bbloggers, I was away doing something which I can't even remember so it can't have been that good. The next morning, having been informed it was a SERIOUSLY juicy discussion, I went back to try and read it. After three pages of 'READ MY BLOG PLZ' Twitter kindly informed me that it couldn't go back any further. So I obtained absolutely no information about the chat whatsoever and had to get friends to recap it for me. And this was just the day afterwards, before the spam really had a chance to accumulate. Incredible.

If you're one of the tweeple that spams DURING the chat, I hope you tweet yourself to death. I don't think I even need to get started on the foolishness that goes into thinking that is going to get you any followers. Or friends. 


tweet-yourself-to-death
'Companies' (though truly, half of these barely deserve the term) can get lost as well. I'm all for cosmetic companies taking part in the chat, giving meaningful and interesting feedback, and generally getting stuck in - in fact, I love that. Brands like MUA Cosmetics and The Teacup Agency are present week after week and forge connections with bloggers while not blatantly advertising all over the hash tag. Then you get brands like (pictured) who clearly aren't interested in connecting with bloggers during the actual chat, rather using them for free content and promotion (see below).

shibaloff

Why the hell did anyone think this was a good marketing strategy? It cheapens your brand and makes you look desperate. Leave #bbloggers be...if you're looking for people to try out your product, go the old fashioned route and contact bloggers that you enjoy reading to try it out. That was at you, Youngblood. :) Next time you fancy creating rivalry and tension between bloggers, leave the innocent hashtag out of it. Ta.
I hope people think more of their blogs than to go for this sort of thing. Companies rock up and decide that the 'best beauty bloggers' are the ones who should feature them. OK...
The attitude that bloggers jump when companies say 'how high' and that we're automatically inferior, somehow, really pees me off. If you're a company moving into a different market or you're a new company trying to establish yourselves, don't expect bloggers to be all over you, just as new bloggers don't expect to be showered with free samples.


I thought the whole point of #bbloggers was to show us as a blogging community. So many people love and enjoy beauty blogging because of the sheer amount of interaction that we all have with each other, and the fact that we can all connect because we're doing something we love. #bbloggers has grown into a networking tool that allows the beauty community, established or brand new, to all talk with each other as the equals we are - so why are some people showing such basic disrespect towards a community that's so welcoming? If posting your URL in a comment on someone else's blog is widely frowned upon, why isn't this practice? On #bbloggers, as long as you have your blog linked in your Twitter profile, it is incredibly easy to find new (to you) bloggers and read their blogs without cluttering up the chat for everyone else with, "omg, need some bedtime reading material - send me your blogs! My blog is apieceofshit.com". If someone makes an interesting point during the chat or calms down some tension or even has an awesome screen name - investigate them! Look at their profile, look at their blog. I was under the impression that this was common knowledge but apparantly not.

It's similar to the 'sub for sub' thing going on over at YouTube. You suscribe to me, and I'll suscribe to you. Did we suscribe to each other because we like each other's content? No. Are we even interested in the other person's blog/channel? No. We did it just to boost the numbers. It's hollow and fake and when you see #bbloggers littered with 'Hi, I saw your blog on #bbloggers and I really like it! Here's mine.' then you can't help but feel it's going the same way. Which is a real shame.

Wow, that was an angry post. Have some hot Korean men for your time.

Source: fuckyeahleejoon.tumblr

9 Comments

  1. Excellent post.

    I admit I've linked my blog at the end of #bbloggers, however I don't feel like I spam it or do it repeatedly, as I've seen some do and I also make sure I participate in the conversation rather than saying, "I missed it, but oh, read this." cause I agree that is completely ridiculous.

    I really was not fond of last weeks chat. I participated anyway but it had absolutely nothing to do with blogging or the blogging community which I do believe is why #bbloggers started up to begin with.

    Personally, I don't ask people to follow me simply because I follow them. I also won't follow anyone who links me their blog in my comments, I think that's cheap and tacky.

    I also agree about the companies wanting the "best bloggers". I think that's crap. Yes, I don't have as many followers as some blogs, and yes I'm new to the community. I don't expect any free products nor do I try to get them. However I think it's absolute shit when companies say they only want the "best". What is so great about them apart from them having more followers? I personally follow a few blogs that have a TON of followers and they barely fucking post anything. Maybe they did at one point, but now it's whenever they feel like it. Almost as if they've run out of things to blog about, but they're considered the "best" as they have more followers. Bullshit.

    My apologies for my long post/rant and I apologise if I've bothered you on twitter at the end of #bbloggers discussions.

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  2. Again, I love your rants. Spot on! I've browsed the #bbloggers chats on twitter and the amount of bitchiness and superiority complexes makes me cringe. :| x

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  3. Hi Caitlin,

    Thanks to the fools that started this madness, I can totally understand why you and many other people who probably don't have any negative intentions but genuinely thought it was alright might have done it. As I said on Twitter, I've never seen you link your blog so this isn't a personal attack or anything.

    I totally agree with pretty much the rest of your comment. Don't apologise for it being long! I love reading long comments, lol.

    Thanks, Jenny. I do think some people take 'share your opinions' as 'force your opinions down everyone's throat' on #bbloggers. At times, it really does turn unnecessarily bitchy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mmmh, does people spam on Twitter too?
    Lol, I don't have a Twitter account, so I don't know how it works, but seems like it isn't so different from Blogger-s spam avalanche in comments... :D

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  5. Yup, people spam so often on twitter...REALLY annoying, lol.

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  6. I am so glad that you made this post, It really is true, I see a lot of "bloggers" and self proclaimed "guru's" out there that only get subscriptions from people because of the "sub for sub" mentality, good for you for stating the facts! You in fact have a very informative and enjoyable blog without the annoying photoshopped pictures of you throwing up duces with some shitty makeup on. Good for you for being true and original

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  7. Hello!

    Just seen this and thanks for mentioning us. I agree it is needed that brands need to know when not to overdo it and it's such a fine balance. Hoping we can help more people with this.

    Great post :)

    Teacup x

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  8. So true, I genuinely don't want to take part in the #bbloggers chat anymore because its too difficult to follow the thread of conversation due to the spam. I appreciate that a lot of girls continue on after the allotted hour but I personally enjoy being sent a load of new links a few times a week, so that I can read new blogs. Perhaps a second hash tag should be started for the links so that we don't disturb the continuing chat? I wouldn't have found so many lovely blogs if it weren't for the annoying bit at the end of the chat. You do make valid points about companies, they drive me insane.
    Xo

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