Seven Annoying Things Bloggers Do

A lot takes place behind the scenes when creating a blog, vlog or even an Instagram post which non-creators may never fully appreciate. Thus, there can be a bit of friction and eye-rolling from non-creators when they are around creators in their element. Over the years, I’ve met and interacted with dozens of different personality types that coexist in the blogosphere and some interactions are better than others. Also, since I often travel with non-creators, this means I’ve probably been the annoying blogger to someone else too, ha! A bit of introspection is good for the soul. Here are the seven annoying things which bloggers do.

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Seven Annoying Things Bloggers & Influencers Do

1. Take Pictures and Videos of Everything
2. Go/Eat Out Solely to Gather Content
3. Convert Ordinary Conversations Into a Blog Post
4. Demand Free Things
5. Don’t Proofread Before Publishing
6. Don’t Do Their Research
7. Over-Monetize
8. Wrap Up

1. Take Pictures and Videos of Everything

I take photos for my blog with my cellphone camera. My gallery has hundreds of photos because I’ll take as many pictures of everything as possible from multiple angles. That’s because you never know when that photo will become handy if you intend to write about an experience later. Many people are visual creatures, and may just browse your article for the pictures as a picture says a thousand words. As a travel blogger, photos and videos are the closest I can get in taking you on my travels virtually so visually documenting my adventures is a must. However, I try to strike a balance between how much time I spend behind the (phone) lens capturing content vs. unplugging and enjoying the experience.

If you’re not a creator, standing on the peripheries while that guy tries to take the perfect photo and video must be annoying. The friend trying to get her perfect food and tablescape shot before you can enjoy your meal may make you hangry. And worse, if your friends feel like their time with you is too staged and constantly under the scrutiny of a camera, they will find you exasperating. Taking 50 photos until you find a “post-worthy” one may get exhausting. However, to my non-creators reading this, I’m sure you enjoy scrolling and seeing those perfect shots on Instagram right? If so, be patient and allow the bloggers to take their photos and videos of everything. It’ll be worth it, I promise.

2. Go/Eat Out Solely to Gather Content

I’m not guilty of this one, but I know several creators who only travel and tour to capture content. Sometimes I wonder if they really take away much from the experience. For paid gigs, it’s important to focus on gathering the content because someone is expecting you to deliver on your end of the contract so we’re not taking about these exceptions. I’m talking about the Instagram models who only sit on the shore to get a photo proving that they went for the ‘Gram but don’t want to smudge their makeup or get their hair wet. This also applies to persons who order multiple things from a menu just to get the shot and then dump the food afterwards. Thankfully I haven’t met any creators like this yet but I’ve heard about them.

3. Convert Ordinary Conversations Into a Blog Post

I’m definitely guilty of this one. Sometimes my friends look to me as a Jamaican travel expert and ask me questions that they think I’d know the answer to. If I get asked about Jamaican rivers, waterfalls, hiking spots and even rum tours, chances are I can give reviews from my own experience. However, contrary to popular belief I haven’t visited many hotels because that’s not my preferred travel type. Therefore when I found multiple friends asking my opinion on which hotels to visit lately, I did my homework and created a post on Jamaica’s best all-inclusive hotels and boutique hotels to answer their questions and any future inquiries. It’s just convenient! No conversation is off limits though. Here are other articles which were born out of ordinary conversations with friends and family.

• Is blogging still relevant in 2022?
• Anatomy & Physiology of a Jamaican
• Why I Said Bye to Lye (Chemical Hair Straightening)
• Comparing The 3 Jamaican Rum Tours

Hundreds of reads for me, but perhaps an annoyed relative or friend or two, who knows? Instead, I hope they’re happy to have been the muse for another Adventures from Elle article. All loved ones are left anonymous on this platform so they shouldn’t be too mad, right? Nonetheless, if naming friends or sharing their stories and photos on the Internet, make sure to obtain their permission first or you may come across as that annoying blogger.

4. Demand Free Things

Some creators demand free stays, meals and products from businesses in exchange for good reviews. This leads to reader distrust because reviews may come across as ingenuine, especially if all reviews appear to be 100% positive all the time and the blogger doesn’t seem to give a balanced review. Also, some businesses may find it annoying when dozens of creators show up on their doorsteps (or inboxes) requesting free things. For this reason, bloggers and other creatives often earn a bad name and this makes some businesses hesitant to partner with us. Pitching is important for professional creators to secure jobs and content, however, try to be as tactful and sincere as possible to prevent coming across as exasperating.

5. Don’t Proofread Before Publishing

You don’t want to be the blogger with content that is difficult to read because it has too many grammatical errors or typos. While we are human and mistakes can happen, if your content is repeatedly filled with errors, this decreases the quality of your content and you’ll lose your audience. Therefore, always take those extra minutes to reread your post before hitting publish. It’s good to review your post with fresh eyes on another day before publishing. You’re more likely to spot pesky errors that way.

6. Don’t Do Their Research

When choosing a niche, always select a topic with which you’re already an expert, or at least interested enough so that research does not become a chore. Why? Search engines match people with blogs that they believe will answer what they’re looking for. Therefore, your blog should provide quality content to satisfy your audience. A well-written article takes research, and may just earn you a new subscriber, social media follower or even a digital download or purchase for your efforts. You have to put out the effort to see rewards. Otherwise, your bounce rate will become high when your website does not answer what readers are searching for. People will dismiss your blog as lacking substance, and it’s annoying to waste precious minutes on a website which doesn’t answer what you were looking for.

7. Over-Monetize

Have you ever visited one of those websites where there are pop-ups and just dozens of ads crammed into the article? Or, it always seems as if the writer is trying to sell you something with too many affiliate codes and programs woven into the content. This gets very annoying really fast. Therefore, make sure to tone it down on the monetizing! While monetizing is important, especially for professional bloggers, you don’t want to wind up annoying your readers and make your content difficult to navigate. This may end up being more harmful in the long run. Instead, add a fair amount of ads, like one to every few paragraphs or ideas and make sure that sponsored links and affiliate codes are limited to only few relevant ones.

Wrap Up

Did you agree with any of the points in this post? If you’re a creator yourself, I hope you weren’t guilty of the above blogging misdemeanours. Don’t be offended though. You can still mend your ways, ha. Sound off in the comments below.

Lastly, subscribe to ensure you don’t miss new posts, and please purchase my quick travel guide on Amazon to help you explore the best of Jamaica.

‘Til next time.

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