If you are reading this, my trap worked, and I’ve lured you into validating me on another social media platform. A BLOG!
I’ve been in the blogging game for years guys this shouldn’t surprise you. However, I decided to make a new blog as I am no longer a young baby faced blogger who writes One Direction fan fiction. I’m a big girl blogger now who writes reviews about green tea and document my OOTD. (outfit of the day)
Just kidding guys, this isn’t that type of blog. I really truly just have a lot to say, and sometimes the 140 character limit Instagram allows just doesn’t cut it.
At 11 years old, blogging was just coming onto the scene. And my closest friends and I, always needing to be one step ahead of our adversaries, made our own blogs.
My first blog had a lifespan of about 3 years. A wide audience of about 3 readers (mom, grandma, the neighborhood kid I used to play with) But I didnt care. I wrote everything an 11 year old could write about. School lunch. Justin Bieber. One Direction.
And the blog itself, it was painful. It was grammatically disturbing. It was awkard. But it was my friend. And yes, I just admitted to the internet being my best friend. Put that on my grave.
It was awesome you guys. It was my own 11 year old ideas, my own 12 year old thoughts, my own 13 year old boyband obsessions. I’m glad little Sofie did that for me.
Thus, my love for writing was born. I used my talents in all areas of my life. I wrote pop songs, dramatic journal entries, plays, short novels, love notes to Ådne Nordbø. Writing was my outlet, it was how I expressed myself.
So as you can see, writing was definitely a passion of mine. But I don’t think I knew it yet. It was really something I just did. I didn’t think about it. It wasn’t an after school hobby, or something I even considered fun. It was just apart of my life. It was me.
Then highschool came around, and I had two things working against me on the social ladder.
My self esteem
Blogging becoming "uncool"
Back then and even still today, bloggers have a bad reputation. It’s just too easy to make fun of a classic blogger.
In 8th grade I was friends with some older girls, who I still admire to this day. But they would always make fun of girls our age that blogged. Like I said, it was a popular topic to joke about. And I was SO insecure about it. I remember asking them one time "Do you guys know any cool blogs? Like any bloggers who are funny and cool and not totally annoying and self centered?" And in conclusion, they all said "NOPE" and informed me that those kind of blogs didnt exist.
So I quit.
I stopped posting on my blog completely. I used mail, Snapchat stories and Instagram captions to fill the void. But looking back, I can’t believe I really let the opinions of other people stop me from writing. I wish so bad that I didn’t listen to them because they were wrong! It’s totally natural to want to please others, to want to fit in, and if something you like doing is considered "uncool" then you’re not crazy for wanting to stop. But if you’re reading this and you feel the same way I did, about anything. It could be blogging, it could be acting in plays, it could be dungeons and dragons, it could be learning to perfect the newest tiktok dancing trend...I support you.
People will always have opinions, and not everyone is going to think you’re cool. But if you can get past that, then you’re golden. And life is about to get so much better for you.
A question I get often is "how did you get a following?"
And even my closest friends couldn’t tell you the answer. It’s hard to pinpoint how and when it started. I had a normal high school girl Instagram. I wasn’t a model, I wasn’t a photographer, a world traveler or a youtuber, but at the end of 2018 I started to travel. It was during these travels that I began to put my thoughts and feelings into words and then share them with the world. I was just so done with hiding who I was to please other people.
(okay that was a little dramatic. that sounded like something the shy girl who is really good at math would say in a disney channel movie. I should write screenplay.)
No, but for real tho. I started writing! And I developed a following out of nowhere!! That’s truly all I can come up with. People thought my captions were relatble, and my travel pictures were nice, and it kind of snow balled from there. And I’m not talking crazy numbers, I had like three thousand followers. Which might not sound like a lot, but for a girl with no notable talents IT WAS MIND BLOWING.
Towards the end of 2019 I wrote about being 19. And so on the day I turned 20 I shared it on my Instagram. Everything I did, experienced and felt all while being 19. And for many reasons, it was the post that changed everything. It had a really good reaction and I wasn’t expecting it at all. Overnight I started getting dms from girls around my age on my Instagram, telling me they found me "inspiring," they thought I was funny, and they wanted me to write more. That was the first time I realized that I had a voice. I figured out that people cared what I had to say. And they listened!
So with the Miss Norway competition in 2021, I started blogging again. I was curious to see if people would read it. But I decided that even if they didn’t, even if I was the joke, it was okay. Because my blog was just that. MY blog. It wasn’t to please anyone else. It was a way for me to document my journey on Miss Norway. And if other people liked it, then that was a cherry on top.
ANYWAY within a couple hours, my circle of 16 blog readers turned into 116 blog readers. It was great! Never in my wildest dreams did I think anyone other than my mom, grandma and my childhood friend neighbor would read what I had to say.
All these years, from writing One Direction fan fiction, captions, blog posts, to writing hate mail to Jake Paul. I finally realized that I loved writing. I’m not some critically acclaimed journalist. I write run on sentences. I misspell words. I’m self deprecating and sarcastic and I take too long to get a point across. But that wasn’t the point. The point was, writing was apart of me. I was able to write in a way that inspired people.
It was the best feeling in the world.
And I think writing, blogging will always be apart of me. I want to look back here when I have an overly dramatic teenage daughter and show her how I handled things when I was her age. She’ll be able to read my own words and my own experiences. I’ll look back on this someday and remember all of my adventures. All the missed flights, all the mean ex boyfriends, all the HOI YAS. It’s all here.
And it’s sad because blogging is a totally different world now. Today, it’s just another platform to add to your list if you’re a social influencer. It’s not about content, writing, or memories, it’s just a place to dump your outfit of the days, your skinny detox tea reviews, sponsored posts, affiliate links, etc. And I mean, I think it’s really cool that bloggers even have the opportunity to get paid for their posts. But it seems like that’s all it is anymore, is just another money maker. And you know what? There’s honestly NOTHING wrong with that!! like u drive that range rover u hot mom blogger. u earned it.
I just don’t want my own blog to be confused as a money maker.
I’ll try and end this long post. I just wanted to give you a little background on why I started my blog and why it’s a part of my life. And you guys who read it are awesome. I don’t know exactly how many people read here, but I think it’s a little more than 3 now ;) and that’s about the only thing that’s changed from my 11 year old blog. It’s still just a place to ramble. To vent. To document. And listen, I can’t promise a beautiful, heart wrenching post every time. I can’t promise consistency. I can’t promise I’ll properly punctuate all of my sentences. But I CAN promise you that we can make fun of 90 days fiancé together.
Right now this is just my 21 year old adventures, my 21 year old thoughts, my 21 year old moments. And it’s all right here. And you’re here too. And that’s really cool. You’re really cool for that.
So...uhhh, here’s to that.
Sof