Dozens of bloggers swarm to London blogging event

Eager bloggers from all over the country came together on Saturday 15th October to The Only Way is Blogging, an event run by Hayley Carr. TOWIB as the event has come to be known, was set up as an outreach to bloggers and in a bid to build on the blogging community through the sharing of advice and tips.


The day saw an array of events including make-up demonstrations from FashionistA and VIVO:

Faye Marie, blogger from All These Pretty Things ran a HTML workshop giving tips and tricks to improving your blog: 

The Only Way is Blogging: HTML Workshop by staceyjmford

The day wrapped up with a photography workshop by Zoe from blog London Lipgloss and a question and answer session with established bloggers, Lily Melrose from llymlrs, Kate Johnson from Ghost Parties and Hayley Carr from London Beauty Queen. They were asked what they think makes a good blog: 

Left: Zoe from London Lipgloss gives a photography workshop to the bloggers. 

(L-R) Lily Melrose, Kate Johnson and Hayley Carr in the blogging Q&A

The Only Way is Blogging: Q&A Session - What makes a good blog? by staceyjmford

The event which proved to be a big success is running its next event - The Spring Social next February which promises to bring the ever growing blogging community together. Yet rewind five years and the term blogger would rarely have been uttered. Nowadays, bloggers are everywhere. They're invited to press days, sent free goods and this September saw them swamp London Fashion Week's front row. They write, they publish photos and produce video and audio content, whilst working to deadline - not much difference from the 21st Century multi-media journalist. But is blogging Journalism? And does it pose a threat to the traditional platform? 

“I wouldn’t say so much a threat, I do think that blogging is kind of closing the gap and I think it’s making journalists think a lot about what they do. I think it is having a threat on weekly publications, there’s a real thirst for knowledge and people want something here and now, they want it instantaneously and that’s what bloggers offer. Particularly at things like London Fashion Week, they can have pictures uploaded within an hour whereas it takes a few days or even longer to come out in print press. I don’t think it will ever be a threat to the ELLE’s and the VOGUE’s because people like the feel of a really thick magazine, they like the beautiful pictures and they like the really long, thought provoking intellectual articles that it offers but I do think in certain respects it is a threat but long-term, you’ll never get rid of magazines and you’ll never get rid of Journalism!” said Hayley Carr, Founder of TOWIB and blogger of The London Beauty Queen. 

Hayley believes that blogging and Journalism share similar qualities: “I think it is in certain respects, I think it still has the same background to it. You’re still writing about a product and you’re still giving your opinion. I think blogging is a lot more fluid and it’s changing a lot and I do think that a lot of bloggers want to be journalists so it’s the first toe in the puddle so to speak. But I still think it is quite different, obviously journalists are quite structured in the way they write about stuff whereas blogging you’re writing from your own personal opinion and your own personal experience.”

Her blog, The London Beauty Queen is the sole reason she got her job as a Social Media manager, dealing with the biggest brands in the country. "I've basically turned my blog into a job. It's opened me up to so many different opportunities, to go places and do things. I've been sent to Milan, I've been to Marbella, I'm backstage at London Fashion Week at all the shows, I've stayed in the most luxurious hotels in London and it's been an amazing ride - I've just made the most of it while I can because you never know when it's going to end."

Lara Lain sees the situation from both sides, working as a Marketing Executive for Look Magazine whilst running her blog: I Feel Like I Dreamt It. She started her blog after she moved to London to "prove I could write well in the hope that it would help me get a job in a magazine or newsaper." She admitted that she classes blogging as a form of Journalism: "If you get your blog 'out there' it can lead to all sorts of writing work and great chances to do Journalism based tasks that you wouldn't otherwise get the opportunity to do." However she dismissed the idea of it being a threat to traditional Journalism: "I don't see it as a threat at all, bloggers are great to work with - if anything they enhance things for our magazine. I think magazines are getting more and more behind bloggers as time progresses and I think that's great. Of course online is the future but I don't see print dying out completely, I much prefer to read a newspaper or magazine to reading online news." 



For the full interview with Hayley Carr on bloggings relationship with Journalism, please listen to the audio below:

The Only Way is Blogging: Interview with founder Hayley Carr by staceyjmford




One famous blogger who has stormed the fashion industry is 15 year-old owner of blog Style Rookie who started her blog at the young age of 11. Since then she has been invited to fashion shows, A-List parties and has recently opened her online magazine for teenage girls - Rookie. 


But where has blogging come from? Below is a timeline of where it started and how, what insiders nickname the 'blogosphere', has grown:

A history of blogging on Dipity.

(Some statistics used in this timeline were sourced from Blogging Historical Timeline). 

Lara believes the popularity of blogging lies in "natural human curiosity." "I think people love to read about people that they kind of think they 'know'. I also think bloggers love to share and readers love to take inspiration and tips from bloggers." 



Cases like Tavi Gevinson's, where she has had hundreds of opportunities become available that weren't present before running her blog, proves that blogging is more than just a hobby. 




"I have met so many great people, been to events that I would never have had the chance to normally and above all, it's give me more confidence in myself and my ability to write content that people want to read about. Work wise it's progressed my job further as I understand blogging now and I can push blogging related projects to a higher level in work. I would not have been able to do this before I blogged myself" admitted Lara.




For more on this story, click here and here for a BBC video report on how bloggers are rivalling fashion magazines. 

This post was written by Stacey Ford. You can contact Stacey at: SFord1@uclan.ac.uk