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My (Secret) Youtube Life by Charlotte Seager

4 August, 2018

My (Secret) Youtube Life by Charlotte Seager

Hi All!
Today is my stop on the blog tour for My (Secret) Youtube Life and I am here today with a wonderful guest post by Charlotte Seager

About the Book

What if your favourite YouTuber’s life was a lie?
What if you were the one to expose it?

YouTuber LilyLoves has an amazing life: a rockstar boyfriend, a totally Insta-worthy London flat and a collection of beauty products that seems to grow daily (thanks, PO Box).

Sixteen-year-old Melissa’s life is way less amazing – LilyLoves is the only thing getting her through it. She’s Lily’s biggest fan and spends hours each night watching her videos and liking her posts. Melissa wants that life for herself – or at least to look like she has it . . .

As Melissa starts to grow in confidence – and followers – she discovers a crushing secret about Lily – the ultimate YouTube lie. Does she share Lily’s secret and crush her fame? Or will they both continue to live a lie – both online and off?

Goodreads. Amazon.

Blogging and the Influence on Teens

by Charlotte Seager

The relationship between blogging and self-esteem can be complicated. For me, blogging is a great way to find like-minded people and join communities around things you’re interested in. A study by American Psychological Association found that teens who blogged (compared to those who did nothing or kept a private diary) displayed greater improvements in confidence and were less lonely.

Just the act of writing down your thoughts can often untangle your worries and put things into perspective. There are also so many people online that you can truly find those with the same passions and interests as you. I’m a big fan of blogging as a way to unwind and connect with people.

The problem with it is that some blogposts can be overly glamourised. You often see ‘fake’ versions of other people’s lives that makes you compare your reality with their ‘online’ perfection.

There’s a danger for teenagers (and everyone!) to idolise people online and not realise that what we see is carefully edited to create a particular image. A recent study by Digital Awareness UK found that more than 60% of teenagers believed friends showed a “fake version” of themselves on social media, with two-thirds saying they wouldn’t care if the technology didn’t exist.

Blogging can also be addictive: a lot of websites are deliberately set up so you try to get more likes, followers and subscribers. In this same study, 56% of teenagers admitted to being on the edge of addiction and 52% said social media made them feel less confident about their appearance or how interesting their life is.

Blogging is a brilliant way to connect with other people online. But it’s important to remember that what you see on social media isn’t necessarily reality. It should be about bringing people together with a common interest, not the number of likes, followers and subscribers.

About the Author

Charlotte Seager lives in London with her partner David and her cat Ruby. She grew up in the Suffolk countryside and moved to London after university to join The Guardian as a writer on the children’s books site. She went on to be editor of the Guardian Careers desk, before moving papers earlier this year to join The Times and The Sunday Times as engagement editor, building online communities.

My [Secret] YouTube Life is her debut novel.

Website. Twitter. Instagram.

Will you be reading this book?

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