Cosmopolitan UK's Dusty Baxter-Wright, explains why she thinks the backlash against Sarah Ashcroft's 'How I turned my Instagram account into a money-making business' interview is hypocritical, damaging, and a scary reflection of the blogging industry as a whole.
"Beyond my job as a journalist, my sole use of social media is tagging my mates in memes. OK OK, that's an exaggeration - but I'm not a blogger, I'm not Instagram famous, and I'm not part of any online communities.
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That isn't to say I don't appreciate the blogging community; I think building your own money-making business from an iPhone, high-street clothes and an uncooperative boyfriend taking your pictures is highly commendable.
Which is why I thought Sarah Ashcroft's interview about how she 'made it' was so impressive. She wasn't afraid to be candid, frank and honest about her powerful influence, how much money she makes and how hard it is to strive in such a saturated market.
So why was that market - the blogging community - so quick to tear her down? Why was her message about originality, working hard and not blogging for the wrong reasons, misconstrued and bashed all over Twitter?
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What made fellow bloggers, who are part of the same 'community' as Sarah, throw phrases around about being "up her own arse", "an absolute idiot" and "arrogant and superior"?
While I don't have the answer to all these questions, I hold the opinion that the reaction to Sarah's honesty is more damaging for the industry than anything she actually initially said.
Yes, she questioned whether there's room for new bloggers that aren't unique ("the only way you're going to stand out is if you do something completely original"), and yes, Sarah openly discussed the scale and power of her influence, but do any of her comments legitimately constitute the onslaught of negative tweets she received online?
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Is pointing out the widely held opinions that the blogging market is highly saturated; that Sarah's influence is strong; that bloggers are in competition with each other; cause for a witch hunt?
'How can an industry that prides itself on female empowerment join together to publicly tear down and outcast one of their own?'
The definition of a 'community' is a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common, which can absolutely be applied to bloggers.
So what, then, is achieved by that group outcasting one of their own for voicing her opinion on a platform and sharing her views, other than damaging the community overall?
I for one don't understand how an industry which prides itself on sisterhood, girl power and building each other up can justify calling Sarah's opinions "pathetic and childish", and continually tagging her in tweets and conversations on Twitter which aim to bring her down.
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An industry, which should be based on female empowerment and supporting one another for their achievements, instead referring to each other as "stuck up cows", "bitchy" and "arrogant as f***".
One blogger even went as far as to 'call Sarah out' for putting others down ("This Sarah Ashcroft girl needs to get a grip and stop bringing people down"), but is that not a direct example of the hypocrisy of the backlash all together?
That while she was being criticised for potentially putting smaller bloggers off the industry and "disheartening others" about their social media influence, in turn Sarah was made to feel demoralised for her honesty and dragged down herself?
If anything, this negativity reflects far worse on the community than any of Sarah's comments in the initial interview. Even if you don't agree with what she said, what positives genuinely come out of joining together to publicly slate her? Where's the community in that?
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From my perspective, the only quote in the original interview that was cause for offence is Sarah's opinion that the market is over-saturated, and that new bloggers will struggle to find their niche. If you agree with her, fine. If you don't? That's fine, too, but there's no need for a barrage of abusive tweets and online victimisation."
Do you agree with Dusty's opinion? Let us know over @CosmopolitanUK on Twitter.
Source: "Why the backlash against Sarah Ashcroft is so damaging for the blogging world"
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