Following a lot of press coverage on the blogging community recently, there were something I wanted to go over.
The Independent recently released an article which showed Blogger/Vlogger/All round lovely girl Zoella in a negative light. The piece was simply horrible, and as someone who watches Zoe's vlogs and reads her blog, I really felt the need to address something.
Much of the press (not just the Independent) has referred to Zoe's subscribers as "obsessive fans" who apparently "hang onto her every word". While I'm sure there are people out there who do Idolize her and do hang onto her every word, I am not one of them. (I hear Zoe sighing in relief!) because she doesn't deserve to sit in front of her camera and feel the need to be a certain way or look a certain way to please her 'fans'.
I love Zoe's videos and she seems like a really nice, lovely, caring girl who has uses her influence as someone with a huge worldwide audience, in a really positive way, which in itself is inspiring but do I expect her to be perfect and make no mistakes? NO!
What I think a lot of people are forgetting, is that Zoe, like so many other vloggers (including me, but on a much smaller scale) is a normal girl who just started talking to her camera one day. She didn't go to Uni and get work experience on how to be a vlogger, yet the press make out like she is trying to be something she is not, which in actual fact is SO untrue. Zoe, like so many others, has never claimed to be an expert at anything, and contrary to the Independent's opinion, I think Zoe has been hugely brave for telling her anxiety story and instead of feeding on the limelight, has actually gone and worked with MIND and regularly tries to help so many others to combat their issues.
Is Zoella god? No! Is she my Idol? No! Do I think she's bliddy amazing? Hells yeah.
You won't find me screaming in the crowd to meet Zoe because not all of her subscribers are teenagers (again contrary to what the press think) and although I think she is amazing and I would love to bump into her in the street someday or grab a hot chocolate with her, Zoe is a normal girl. Stop putting so much pressure on young shoulders. I don't mean that in a patronizing way at all, I'm only 28 myself! But she didn't set out to be a role model, or to be accused of preaching to people by the gutter press. She is a normal girl, with normal girl feelings and normal girl problems. I think the press would do well to remember that instead of judging her, simply to get themselves some more attention.
Zoe, if you're reading this, thank you for being a normal girl. It's that which has made so many other people proud to be normal too. Stuff the press, they need you more than you need them. Don't be afraid to make mistakes in life, you don't deserve to live life on a pedestal that you didn't place yourself on. Make mistakes, be silly, live your life the way you want to live it, not the way you think others will be happy to see you. Trust me, you're doing great just being you :)
All My Love
Holly xxxxxxx
