Friend Friday: jumping on the bandwagon

So recently I jumped on the Fashion Beauty Friend Friday (FBFF) bandwagon. Basically, each week Katy of Modly Chic posts a series of questions for people in the group to respond to as they want. Coincidentally, this week's questions are mostly about jumping on various bandwagons!

1. With all the blogging events out there how do you determine which ones to participate in and which ones to avoid?
I think it really comes down to which events inspire me - what drives me to do something creative or exciting. (Like the Thing-a-Day challenge, though I'm already a bit behind in that, or being part of Wardrobe Refashion.) Additionally, I've been trying to focus on what events fit my personal goals. For instance, though I love seeing everyone's 30 for 30 posts, I've got a closet full of items that I don't wear often enough and I'm trying to push myself into integrating the more unusual and bold pieces into my daily wear. I suspect that I could take 30 of my staple items and wear them in a variety of different ways -- but honestly, I'd rather be trying to take advantage of as much of my closet as possible. (In this way, I'm definitely fortunate to have had very cheap thrift shopping around!) Alternately, I really want to do the next Everybody Everywear

This thought process led to my deciding to join FBFF...I'd been seeing other bloggers answer each week's interesting questions and felt that it would be a nice push for me to be thoughtful about my style and blogging practices. And I've been loving the community aspect as well!

2. Be honest, have you ever jumped on the bandwagon of some blogging movement/event for the wrong reasons? How did that turn out?
Sure. Especially when I first started, it seemed that EVERYONE was on the other style blogging platforms - Weardrobe, Chictopia, Wardrobe Remix etc. However, the various picture-rating systems on some of those are not my favorite thing. I'm sure it's really helpful for new bloggers to get validation that others think they're "chic," (as it was any time someone commented on/voted on one of my photos), but took a lot of additional time. If I felt the need to post an outfit to tons of places, I often didn't end up posting anything at all! I still frequent Chictopia on occasion, but haven't really done anything on Weardrobe or Wardrobe Remix in ages.

3. How do you give your own flair to a blog event while still maintaining the general mission and purpose?
I suppose this partly comes from that previously-mentioned attempt at trying to only join in on events that are relevant to my personal goals for myself/my blog, so I can come up with content that's true to me.

4. When determining the best content for your blog what criterion do you keep in mind?
Right now, I'm still working on developing my own blog style and growing my personal voice. I do try to learn from the things I like or don't like in reading other peoples' blogs...for instance, I'm personally not a big fan of scrolling through dozens of pictures in a post, or giant pictures, unless they're really, really gorgeously done. So I try to keep the pictures in my blog fairly short and sweet.

5. While everything will not suit your blog, how do you try and support your fellow bloggers who are participating in something
worthwhile but not your style?
Just because I'm not participating in a particular blogging meme doesn't mean that I don't find it interesting to watch what others come up with! I try to comment on others' blogs as I can, and see what's going on.


In any case. Interesting questions to think about! Started this post early this morning, but now finishing late tonight...my group has been working very hard this week pulling together a day of panels/demos/performances tomorrow. So hopefully that all goes off well! And now for some sleep soon...