Things I Don't Understand: Blogs

I read a lot of blogs.  A LOT.  I actually would consider myself a fine analyst of blogs.  I'd brag about it, but it actually is not an amazing feat.  Bloggers tend to be pretty transparent.  I have a laundry list of things that I do not understand about blogs.  Allow me to share a few with you:

• Unoriginality.  I am going to rant about this.  I would say 85% of the blogs out there are completely unoriginal.  Go through your blogroll (if you have one) and count how many blogs mention the word "pumpkin" today.  And in a week, note how many talk about those GD Pumpkin Spice Lattes.  Just do it.  I totally dare you.  Because it's a lot, and it's totally boring.  Also, remember the bubble necklaces.  They all had one and yet for months after J Crew's bubble necklaces became popular people were still wearing them in every outfit photo and talking about where they got the latest knock off.  It's like we get it already!  One blogger starts to mention something they like, and the rest glom onto it like little zombies until they suck all of the life out of that particular item.  The next big thing is the Kendra Scott necklace.  I don't even have to look up which necklace I'm talking about because you all know.  You've seen it on 40 different blogs already.  Here's a tip bloggers, be original. 
• Giveaways.  I don't understand how some of these blogs have so much etsy crap to giveaway.  Are these people from etsy contacting them?  Do they even test out the products?  Or are bloggers so excited about getting free stuff that they will put any product on their blog to giveaway.  Because I will be honest and tell you that there have been giveaways that I would not sign up for if you paid me.  I mean, honestly, where do they find some of this crap? 
• Always Positive Sponsored Posts.  I don't have a problem with sponsored posts.  If a company wants to send you their product to test out, and you end up loving it, go ahead and blog about it.  I have actually gotten some of the best product recommendations from blogs.  But when you are posting more than once a week with a sponsored post using totally generic positive phrases to tell me how great the products that you received for free were, you become inauthentic.  It's kind of gross.  And I would pay someone to have a sponsored post where they said that the product was pretty average.  For instance, I recently saw blogs talking about how great and amazing some brand of paper towels were.  They said they used them "all the time."  First, snoozeville.  Second, were they really that much better than any other paper towel?  In the hierarchy of paper towels, is any 3-ply paper towel really better than the next?  Or does a paper towel really clean up a spill better than a plain, old dish cloth? 
• Recipes.  I love a good food blog.  Getting recipes from blogs is actually the number one thing I love about blogs.  But I will tell you what I cannot stand, blogs that give you a recipe that isn't actually a recipe.  For instance, everyone in the world knows that if you take a vegetable and toss it with some oil, salt, and maybe a little pepper, you will have a roasted vegetable.  That's not a recipe.  That's just what I do in the kitchen everyday.  How dumbed down can we get?  I also love a sandwich recipe that tells me to buy ingredients and put them on bread.  Or they get really fancy and tell me to put it in a tortilla wrap.  WOW!  What a completely sucky recipe. 

I could go on and on.  I love blogs, but I also love to hate them.