Another quick message before I go shower this funk off…
As I’ve gotten a “WEE” bit more knowledgeable of the (entertainment) blogging game, one thing that I am learning QUICK is that everybody doesn’t think like I do.
Before I even thought of doing a celebrity entertainment blog, I researched. Yea, it’s human nature for you to want to run to the nearest guru of _____ and ask a million questions if it’s a subject that’s new to you. Now, I’m not saying that NO other blogger did this but I looked at as many aspects of blogging as I could on my own before I started asking questions. I learned in school many years ago that if you don’t look for certain things on your own, allowing yourself to become as knowledgeable about whatever it is that you’re pursuing, then you’re rendering yourself useless to you.
As I said a few days ago in a previous entry, I get asked questions all the time and because I know that “I” had questions, I don’t mind answering them. But I literally grit my teeth when I get asked simple things such as “what blog platform should I use, where do I get pictures from, etc., etc., etc” when those things (plus much more) are available via google.
Now trust me…you’ll never see me be a bitch about it. One thing I can’t stand is an indignant ass ANYTHING that thinks that just b/c they “made it” (which I have not yet…trust me), they have to look down their noses at those who are still trying. But I’m reminded of an old Chinese (I THINK?) proverb:
And it works the same in blogging…if I simply GIVE you answers without you putting in any research of your own, you’ll only learn to come back to me (or another blogger) the next day or the next month with questions regarding your next move. However, if I encourage you to FIRST research on your own, learn about what it is that you’re doing before diving head first into it, then I feel that you’re being empowered for your own future as blogger. Again, asking questions is not the problem…but not trying to find the answer on your own first is.
PS: Please note…I have been blogging since 2004. This is, however, my first time taking the entertainment route and while I’m still learning (much to many people’s disbelief), I still believe in empowering yourself to learn as much as you can BEFORE reaching out to ask questions. No offense meant…I’m just calling it as I see it.
COMMENTS
I’m a young woman currently getting a degree in African American studies/Sociology at Columbia, in hopes of pursuing a career in international relations and one day bringing to light the unfair crimes against humanity commited by fascist dictators in parts of Africa (think Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe), and am home in ATL for the break.
Due to this, I have a little bit of time to check out blogs, and update facebook (still haven’t jumped on the twitter bandwaggon- no time), and I can’t help but find it humorous when people like you claim to see the internet as just your hobby. If I had this much time and money invested in my ‘hobbies’, I wouldn’t have anytime at all to focus on the things I actually give top priority to- i.e getting my education and empowering black americans, and not misrepresenting them through the media(i feel as though entertainment bloggers who offer us pointless, albeit interesting, insights on the latest no-face one-hit-wonder’s sex tape, are doing nothing to help further the advancement of the human race in the right direction).
What I’m really trying to say is that I just wish we had more people like you, (opinionated, culturally-aware, articulate) in some of my classes at school, becoming leaders in a more empowering light- and honestly I feel like your endeavors in ‘entertainment blogging’ are doing a great diservice not to only yourself, but to others who could benefit from hearing your sharp points and relatable voice on more important issues- it’s beside me how you can seemingly waste so much time and talent on irrelevant stuff that only brings others down- or brings the wrong people up.
If I am wrong, and there are any merits on a humanitarian level to entertainment blogging, then please correct me. If not, and it is simply just a matter of what is more profitable to you, and you enjoy writing up posts on what so-and-so-wore there, and if whatserface slept with him, then no shade what so ever to you and your hustle.
However, I would like to believe that when you strip off the layers people like you and people like me are really the same. Maybe you feel as though your blogging pursuits in that direction are/will make a difference in a positive way, just as I feel that paying myself through law school will produce the same result.
Then again, I am 22 years old, and you’re (29?). Maybe by your age I’ll have lived enough to put aside idealistic notions of saving the world through my ideas alone, and learn to make the sacrifices I gotta make (even if that means selling out a little bit) to get myself to the point where my opinions can be heard by the masses. I’m not trying to say this is what you have done, but I know others who have and hope as you grow more ‘famous’ in the entertainment industry -even just as a blogger- you will not follow that path.
–Best wishes, and though I know exactly how this post will come off, I really do admire your spirit(especially with project new era) and I hope to see/hear more from that Jia- a Jia that stays true to the voice of her community, and the heart of her stories.