Vloggers & Bloggers Are Not One and the Same 01/17/12

My statement to Essence magazine in response to the “Essence Magazine Disses Vloggers Discussion”. What would you add?

Dear Editors of Essence:

Natural Hair Vloggers and Bloggers are not one and the same.

As a member of the natural hair community, I appreciate the abundance of information that Essence magazine provides. I was rather surprised to read that some of my associates felt that their work as vloggers and bloggers was not being appreciated. In fact, they were belittled as valuable resources for those transitioning to natural hair. In your January 2012 issue, Atlanta based hair texture specialist Key Martin was quoted saying “A lot of time YouTubers are speaking about their texture, which may not be yours.” This may be true in some cases, but it is unfair to make this generalization for vloggers/bloggers that have large followings. It is nearly impossible for vloggers such as Kimmay and Natural Chica or bloggers such as Curly Nikki and Natural Hair Rules to remain relevant by only sharing information about our individual textures. Natural hair vloggers and bloggers are not one and the same.

Many natural hair vloggers/bloggers spend countless hours researching and experimenting in natural hair care. We have worked with renowned texture specialists and natural hair product creators. Regardless of our texture, there are many commonalities in natural hair care. Sharing from this point of view of our hair texture is how many of us got our start, but through countless hours of research and experimenting, we have become experts in the niche of natural hair care. Our expertise makes us invaluable in the billion-dollar hair care industry.
Essence magazine has acknowledged the validity of natural hair vloggers/bloggers by featuring them in natural hair interviews and Q & A posts written from their perspectives. Your publication has utilized Street Style to highlight these key natural hair players. Natural hair care is more than just our business; it is a lifestyle for many of us. From the latest print issue, we are lead to question whether or not Essence magazine truly understands what a driving force the online hair community is. There is no doubt that we influence readership of Essence print and online publication. It is for this reason that I encourage your editors to really get to know us, our followers and our natural hair themes. I would like to continue to nurture our existing relationship.