Privilege in the YA Book Community: Discussing Ways How Some Influencers are at More of a Disadvantage Than Others

It’s not a secret that some people are more privileged than others, all over the world.

I’m so lucky to be living in the US, not only because of what it means for me blogging-wise, but also because I know that there are other countries in the world where people don’t have the same opportunities or mangoes as me. And I feel so grateful for everything provided for me!!!

But lately, because I’m a Very Intuitive person, I’ve been noticing a lot of privilege in the YA book community. There have been discussions about adults vs. teens when it comes to YA, not to mention how marginalized reviewers aren’t getting books that represent them.

So after ranting out loud to no one because I’m pathetic, I’ve decided to write a discussion on some ways one can be privileged in the YA community!!

(For reference: When I say “influencer”, I mean groups of people like bloggers, booktubers, bookstagrammers, etc. and everyone else who has an impact on the YA book community.)

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The Illusion of a “Perfect Life” in the Online World & the Pressure to Appear “Perfect” Online // Taking a Weird Break??

No one is perfect.

I know that’s really obvious!! And you’ve probably heard it a thousand times in consoling tones when you make a grievous mistake, or when you’re trying to reassure yourself about other people doing stupid things.

But I feel like there’s often a certain pressure to be perfect, or a perception that we are in the online world, and we forget that we, nor others, are NOT perfect.

This is something I’ve been thinking about for some time now, because of things that I’ve noticed in the behavior of myself and others. And I’ve also noticed some negative effects as well, so that’s why I decided to talk about it today!!!

Why Diversity & Representation in Books is Important // Why We Need Rep & Why We Need to Promote Diverse Books

Diversity in books is SO. SO. important.

If you haven’t gotten that already????

But seriously, I’ve talked about diversity in books a few times before (definitely not enough), but I never once mentioned WHY it was so important?? Which is shakening information. Because this is something so so important* to me??? And yet I never mentioned WHY.

So today, I’m obviously going to be talking about why diversity is needed in books. And also why we need to promote books with diversity in them.

It’s going to be to VERY ranty and also quite all over the place, but I need a place to vent and ramble and what’s a blog for if not that??

*WHAT’S ANOTHER WORD FOR IMPORTANT.

“Good Representation” Concerning Diversity in (YA) Books: Better None or Forced/Wrong? Different Experiences?

The world is hugely diverse.

Obviously??? You’ve probably noticed by now, but you are DEFINITELY not the same as the person sitting next to you. Even if they’re your identical twin (WHICH IS SO COOL BTW), your personalities are probably different. There are tiny smol things that set you apart.

And because books are aiming to be as realistic as possible, you want to include diversity in your own book*, because it accurately reflects the world!

But… is that diversity always portrayed correctly?

The definite answer is: No.

I don’t know if y’all know this, but I’m a HUGEEEE supporter of equality of all people in the world, no matter their differences. Thus I am a big advocate for diversity in (YA) books.

The things that I’m talking about in this post are things that I’ve always thought about (and even touched a bit on in this post! but that post was an absolute mess and my have opinions have changed now. this post is so much better omg).

*I’m aware that there were some recent heated discussions about diversity and how “realistic” it is on Twitter. I will be avoiding that because I don’t like conflict. And yet I’m writing this post.

Blogging Stats: A Ranty Discussion on the General View on Stats and How It’s Kind of… Wrong?? In My Opinion!

Stats are quite controversial.

Some people think that you should never look at stats, while others believe you should look at them like a few times a week, and then others believe you should cHECK EVERY SECOND AND MAKE SURE YOU’VE GAINED ONE GAIN IN THE PAST NANOSECOND.

Obviously, I’m the last type. Except I check stats every millisecond.* Or nanosecond. Whichever’s smaller.**

Last week… or some time recent… (I’M SORRY I CAN’T KEEP TRACK OF TIME) I wrote a post about why I love blogging and in it, I talked about how I love good stats! That incited some discussion in the comments, and I’m so intrigued by it*** that I decided to write a whole post on it!

Well, a whole post on the general view on blogging stats and then MY view. Because everyone knows I like to insert myself in everything because I’m just that self-centered amazing.

I KNOW YOU’RE EXCITED.

*JUST KIDDING. I’m not that obsessive. I think.
**I don’t do math okay.
***Or I’m running out of post ideas,,, but yOU DIDN’T HEAR THAT FROM ME.