Can Bloggers do original?

A couple of weeks ago during a #Bloggersdoitbetter chat on twitter someone made a comment along the lines of ‘There is no such thing as an original blog post’. This comment has been really playing on my mind, I want to say it kind of offended me but at the same time by no means to I claim to be completely original. The comment really got me thinking.

So what is original? According to the Oxford dictionary it is defined as ‘Created personally by a particular artist, writer, musician, etc.; not a copy’.

So as bloggers we can’t deny that there are a lot of very similar posts floating about, I’ve seen sooo many ‘what’s in my handbag’, ‘makeup storage’ and similar posts in my blogging time. Also as a beauty blogger when an ‘it’ product is released we are bombarded with reviews on it. To the point I can’t be bothered to review it myself! Now don’t get me wrong, I’m sure I fall into this category occasionally, how can we not when there is so many blogs around these days. However we all have our own personalities, views, likes, dislikes so each post is slightly different, so would that be classed as an original post? Or what about being inspired by a fab blog and wanting to explore a concept further? Original or not?

Or as I’m sure others have noticed, I’ve seen quite a few bloggers outing fellow bloggers for outright copying posts lately. Firstly, why would you do that? And secondly it has only has added to my quandary around original blog posts. I don’t condone copying at all and feel so disheartening, and it got me thinking about why I started blogging. I find it so sad and frustrating when I hear about these things and when I see bloggers who ‘follow for a follow’ or those who get upset on twitter about having little followers. I have been working hard on my blog for 2 years, I never started this looking for followers, and I genuinely never expected anyone to stop by, so am ridiculously humbled and flattered that people spare their time to do so.

 

I started blogging for a creative outlet, I wanted something to do for fun where I could practice my writing and play with my camera. Did I want to be original? Yes I guess I did. My blog is personal to me, I blog about things I do, things I love, my passions.

I hope this doesn’t come across as some sort of grumpy rant, I am genuinely just questioning the authenticity of blogging. I think the question of ‘Can bloggers do original?’ really interests me. Perhaps bloggers aren’t original in terms of brand new ideas but original in personifying a post to themselves and their blogs?

I would love to hear your views on this subject? Is there even such a thing as ‘original’ anymore?