Online Lives: Cork-based blogger Meggan VanderMeulen

American blogger Meggan VanderMeulen has been running her website, CardiganJezebel.com, from Cork City for almost five years.

The 24-year-old chats about a range of topics online.

“I don’t really have a single niche,” Meggan says. “I blog about all things beauty, fashion, lifestyle, and travel.”

Meggan says she is thankful to be part of the Irish blogging community.

“When you find the right people and groups you can be so lucky. Irish people are such a lovely and supportive bunch and they have your back no matter what.”

She is also interested in sharing photography and connecting with her readers online.

“I’ve been running a monthly photo-a-day challenge since January 2016,” she says. Unsurprisingly, Meggan is very active on photo sharing site Instagram as well as Twitter. She has almost 15,000 followers across both social media platforms.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Irish Examiner (@irish_examiner)

“I really love Twitter and Instagram! But, at the end of the day my main platform is my blog. I love being able to find new people and the community around blogging can be incredible.”

Meggan said her time spent blogging and building a presence online has led to a number of career opportunities.

“It’s definitely had a very positive impact on my life. Blogging started as a hobby for me but I’ve had so many opportunities because of it. I’ve even started a new freelance job because of my blog recently.”

Love my blog? Why not follow me on Instagram for a behind the scene look!https://t.co/ApgV1xUx1m #lbloggers #cbloggers #bbloggers #thegirlgang #bloggerstribe #shinyhappybloggers pic.twitter.com/xew3uGuQ5Z

— ✨️Megg-nog Latte✨️ (@CardiganJezebel) September 23, 2018

She warns that it is easy to become jealous of the lives other people appear to lead through social media and their blogs. One of the hardest parts of blogging has to be comparisons. I try to remind myself that comparison is the thief of joy.

“Someone is always going to have ‘better’ opportunities than you or higher numbers. But, you really have to remind yourself that you’re doing this because you love it.

"I had been reading other people’s blogs for years and thought everything had to be perfect straight off the bat. I compared everything I wanted to put up with what others had done already instead of just uploading things I liked.

“Once again, comparing your work to other people’s can kill your creativity.”

Meggan said it is obvious to readers when someone blogs for the wrong reasons.

“I started my blog because I wanted to work on writing and photography and chat about things I like. I think a lot of people start blogging because they want ‘free stuff’. First off, that takes a heck of a lot of time. And, it’s not free.

“If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing or writing about it really shows.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Irish Examiner (@irish_examiner)