In the beginning, my blog was only read by people from my secondary school who then talked about me to their friends from other schools and then those friends talked about me to other friends and blahblah. Why people read my blog was probably because i posted pictures all the time and wrote about my day (consisted of lotsa complains about school and etc) - which was relatable!
Back then, there wasn't Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so people read blogs to read people's rants and look at their pictures. It wasn't cus i was pretty that's why people followed my blog, i looked mediocre - like a regular secondary school girl. I also didn't think i was pretty enough back then but i loved taking pictures of places and people to remember the moment. I had albums and albums of pictures which were created so my friends could look at the album but slowly, more and more people clicked and so my blog readership grew!
It also grew a lot when i joined blogskins.com designing blogskins for people's blogs. Honestly, my blogskin designs were nothing fantastic lah....but all self-taught - which i'm extremely proud of! I also learnt HTML and etc on my own. Guess i had too much time to spare back then but it's really helpful now when i edit my blog template and webstore so YAY! I wouldn't say it was handwork, more like i spent my time doing stuff i liked which was useful instead of sleeping and watching TV. I didn't do it for "fame" or "money", it was all my own personal interest!
As my blog grew more and more popular, i was approached by people to do advertorials - something i only saw Xiaxue doing. Which made me realize that i could make a bit of money from it - my parents separated when i was in Secondary School and since then, my mom didn't really give me much pocket money so to be able to earn some money from blogging was awesome.
Despite the popularity, i never forget the people who were my friends when i was a nobody. Classmates, schoolmates...etc. Everyone thought i would, until they finally met me years later. Everyone said the same thing when we met, "Wah?! You remember me meh?!". Which then i would reply "Why would i forget you?!". Being popular doesn't change who i am what? I'm still ME? My brain is still the same brain?
Then as time passed, i learnt more about life and this industry and realized something! As I looked around at a lot of people who were getting more and more popular and realized a lot of them change group of friends and completely neglect the people they hung out with when they weren't popular - it's no surprise why my secondary school friends would think so. I really don't blame them for automatically assuming someone would change once they become popular. The popular people stopped mentioning their old friends on Twitter/Instag and only tag the popular people. It was like popular people had to only hang out with popular people.
It does look like that but honestly, not every popular blogger/actor/actress/singer is like that. I know i'm not like that, and i never allowed fame to get to my head.
It may look like they neglected their old friends but that's not always the case. Here's my reason why that happens for me! It is simply because my friend (who isn't popular) feels uncomfortable being "known". It might sound weird but it's true, not everyone wants to be famous. A lot of people like being "under the radar".
Sometimes when i @mention a friend, they'd be like "shit tammy, a lot of weirdos are following me/adding me of Facebook!". Then they ask me not to do so, so i stop. But that certainly isn't a reason for me to stop hanging out with them. Most days i don't take pictures with my friends not because i don't want them to be popular but because they just don't feel comfortable with it. Take for instance, my boyfriend. He hates it when i post pictures of him, or mention him on Twitter/Instag. In the beginning, we had tons of quarrels about it. I thought he was embarrassed to me seen as my boyfriend. But then as time passed, i realized he just hates being made fun of, by his friends and colleagues. They'd say things like "wahhhh....somebody dating Tammy ah!!!!" and he'd feel so uncomfortable with it. He also hates being recognized in public and people going "eh...you are tammy's bf right?". He feels like he is only known for being "Tammy's boyfriend", not as him.
Then i also have friends, who also complain when i post a picture with them in it that they have people trying to get close to them so they can get to know me - which they find super annoying.
So yeah, if sometimes you wonder why i only tag bloggers in most of my pictures, now you know! It really isn't because i only hang out with bloggers, i've tons of friends who aren't bloggers and who are not active on social media!
Then again, that's not the case for EVERY BLOGGER. There are many out there who let fame get into their head and completely cut off all ties with their old friends. Those people who start unfollowing their old friends on Twitter/Instagram and only follow popular people. I feel sad for them, really. Because the friends you get because you're famous might not always be true. There's a chance they are friends with you because you're good-looking, or maybe they want to get more popular. It takes a longer time for you to find out how true they are. It's the friends you make when you are a nobody who are the keepers - the people who know, accept and love you inside out.