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Selfies & the Age of Shameless Self Promotion Do You Do It?

French-Connection-Selfie-Shirt

Who could have predicted this age of social media and shameless self-promotion.Well I think George Orwell sort of did.  I guess everyone wants their fifteen minutes, or maybe not. Not everyone likes to share everything with everyone online but it seems a lot of us do. And nothing is more self-promoting then a blog. Or at least personal blogs. I originally started my blog as a way of expanding on my skill set as a graphic designer and learning new things and exploring the brave new world of social media. I never really thought about it as self promotion but on some level it is. I may not be branding myself as a personality but it is a platform for me to show the world what I think. In addition if I do start an online print shop then of course it will be a tool to market my products.

I actually had a blogger tell me her goal with her blog was to brand herself. The success of blogs like the Man Repeller and Bryan Boy is just that—they branded themselves and turned themselves in to celebrities. We often see them at events and fashion shows along side what I like to call more traditional celebrities. With reality TV and “traditional” celebrities instagramming, tweeting and posing for selfies it seems that art is definitely imitating life. Remember when reality TV was only about “real” people? So if all is fair in love, war and the art of self promotion, do you think personal and fashion blogs deserve some of the negative flack that have been thrown their way? Where do you draw the line between a self made celebrity and those that clawed their way in to the lime light?  If you have a blog why did you start it? If not, how engaged are you with social media? I know some people that steer clear of it all together. What do you think of a life lived online?

And now to this tee from French Connection, is this the bomb or what? I love it, and will be adding it to my must have list for sure. And I am still thinking of opening an online print shop and doing a hash tag series, so stay tuned…whoops I just did it—shameless self promotion!

22 comments

  1. It is interesting– with my blog of course I do a lot of self promotion. While I just share every intimate detail of my life, I do share elements of it and ultimately I consider myself the personality behind the blog—- or something like that! But for my day job, I also blog and work on social media, in that case I am anonymous and am really working to build a brand….
    The contrast between the two is interesting, but also the similarities….

    Hmm— definitely got me thinking about what I do and what I am attempting to do!

  2. You see my opinion is that times have changed and if someone is talented I think they should put themselves out there. You still have to be tasteful about it but that’s ok with me. Cannot wait for your print shop.
    xo
    ​PinkSole​

  3. I started my blog by the advise of co-workers they kept telling me I should share my knowledge of fashion and other things. I do not like to talk about myself. I never look at it like branding myself, I just have fun for now. Do not know what the future hold but, I not waiting to get notice by any means. I believe if you have a business and if your plan is to get into a magazine or opening a business is nothing wrong to give it all you got in branding yourself is like a commercial or advertisement how would anyone know you exist. (No shame in that)
    http://tifi11.blogspot.com

  4. shameless self-promotion” is worthy to be done well,in every personal ways,even i am not good at self-promotion,sometimes you need lucks,at beginning Bryanboy does not wanna get fame by blogging but he get everything unexpected.fuck that.so lucky.Kidding i love him.If we check out a personal way to spread ourselves then why not? I mean live it up,you know this is something about holding on a dream more than just “shameless self-promotion” so do what you wanna-opening an online print shop and doing a hash tag series.

    I have a personal Request here i mean i have been reading your blog almost one year,it could not be sure that i enjoy your artciles,the opinions included within your writings is just can not be more meaningful.If you can look around you can be sure there are always be many long-comments on each of your posts.I am just a young-brain author,i am thinking invite you to be my guest writer.Then here comes a thing,you may wondering what your benefits.I think i should applogize to you that i can not pay you money,bcz i am a poor student.I just wanna a friendly cooperations and every post you write for my blog will be posted in your name.What is more? I am thinking i can design a section maybe on the left bar of my site introducing you as my guest author.Please let me know your opinion on my invitation and any other benefits your desire from me.

    yours,Royal Wang

    Wish you all the luck

  5. That is a very fun tee! 🙂

    I just have a regular little daily outfit/personal style blog – no wishes to become a celebrity or a “brand”. I enjoy reading blogs that are similar to mine, having conversations and getting inspiration 🙂

    Although my blog really is just one just archive of selfies isn’t it really…haha.

    Away From The Blue

  6. What I do on my blog now is what I did personally for years. I just thought it would be fun letting others know my opinions on beauty products. Before I would say, gosh I wish I could let others know this stuff doesn’t work so they could save their money. HaHaHa

  7. Fun tee! I’m so bad at self promotion. I started my blog to promote my Etsy shop and photography business but I hardly ever remember to mention them.

    Let me know if you do end up taking that Brand Marketing class. I might want to do it too.

    Rowena @ rolala loves

  8. Ha! This is cool Allie! Of course it is self promotion! If it’s to show/share your ideas, talent, thoughts, photos, styling tips, travel adventures, it is always to ‘brand ‘ YOU in some way. Is it bad? Social media makes the whole thing as easy as a ‘click” but if there are people who like what you do and you love doing it then everybody seems happy!:-)

    http://www.pursefixation.com
    Toast your Purse with an Outfit!

  9. It’s hard not to self-promote when you have your own blog! Great article 🙂
    <3
    katsfashionfix.blogspot.com

  10. What I love most about cheeky shirts like this is that they’re so relevant of our times!

    This is such an interesting topic because some people really want to reach fame status, while others, myself included, are more comfortable flying under the radar, which has been a difficult thing to reconcile given that the success of a blogger is dependent on their level of awareness.

    That said, the bloggers who are famous are really just blogger-famous. If you ask any non blog-reading person who Sincerely Jules is, they’ll have no clue.

    xx Hélène
    http://www.FashionOverReason.com

  11. Blog is really big strength.
    And I love t-shirt with “selfie”.

  12. I miss the time when bloggers were bloggers and not brands. I liked reading about how other people lived and the things then did/wore. Now, everything feels like promotion. I want to believe you can be a successful blogger without having to constantly scream “Look at me! I’m cool!” but I’m not sure that is possible anymore.

  13. There has to be a balance- of course you need to promote + advocate for yourself and your talents (ie, your blog), but it still has to be done in a tasteful way (borrowing Rachelle’s term; I think it’s perfect).

    I love this tee- I think I need it!

    -Ashley
    http://lestylorouge.com

  14. I started my blog because I wanted to share my passion, it’s fun to be famous, but that isn’t really my goal or even possible? I like to connect with other people out there and make new friends on the way 🙂

    xxx

  15. I don’t see anything wrong with self promotion. I think everyone who has a blog does that in some way. We all have different goals and part of reaching them is getting your blog and yourself out there 🙂

  16. I started my blog because one day a YouTuber, amarixe aka Alison, mentioned her blog and I instantly became hooked. I think I’m obsessed with the blogging world because everyone is so polite, it’s easier to connect with your readers, and most importantly NO TROLLS. Haha, that was a huge problem I had with YouTube. But some day I would love to get back into making videos because I would love expressing my creativity on both platforms.

    Social media should be about self expression not self obsession. 🙂
    xoxo
    –  ßerry ♥ Stylish  

  17. Hey Allie! Thanks again for stopping by my blog; so glad you did because now I’ve discovered yours! This is such a great topic. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because I was recently given the advice that, “shameless self promotion” is one of the keys to growing your blog, business, etc. I have a hard time with this personally, I’m not naturally comfortable with a lot of attention. I almost cringe at the thought of posting selfies (nothing against those that do) but I don’t want to be perceived as vain (again, not that I think those that post selfies are vain).
    Obviously, I think you have to believe in yourself before anyone else will and that includes some self promotion. But, I also don’t want to constantly rave about myself and would much prefer someone else talking about my blog, etc. than me because it’s much more valuable. At the end of the day, I think we should do what makes us happy and strive not to judge others by their #selfies. 🙂

    Megan

  18. Such a fun tee!! I definitely need one!! I am soo camera shy! And, i dont know, it feels like it’s much cooler to not take a “selfie” these days! Haha…but you’re right! :p Glad to have found your blog btw! :p

    http://anshul90.com

  19. I agree with Jenmarie here. Every blog is a form of self promotion in one way or another, and I don’t see a problem with that. If a blogger gets to the point where they lose themselves in their promotion, then it’s simply just time to stop reading that blog. Some want to be brands; some just want to be themselves. Who am I to judge that?

  20. Yeah at Instagram i’m posting a lot of selfies, i’ve discovered it ha smore likes then other pictures. Anyway i guess anyone it’s now a lot easier to make selfies, it isn’t really strange anymore.

    love, Esmeralda

  21. Yes i think the point of blogs to some extent is to self promote. That’s why I started a blog I was reading on etsy that people like to see the behind the scenes of peoples creative process I know I do. And it kind of spurs me on to do more & hold myself accountable on creative projects, that and I do enjoy writing 🙂
    I’m kinda over the whole hashtag selfie thing but I don’t participate in all social media lol

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