What's a girl gotta do to go viral around here?

I've been blogging for some time and almost every time I hit the orange "publish" button after writing, reading and editing a post, I'm hoping that this will be the.one.to.go viral. (...It's okay if mental fireworks explode in your head at the mention of that word. It happens to me too...)

When I first started blogging in 2012, I wanted to be this super bad ass blogger that everyone poured over. My reasons have slightly changed now having published my first book. Now I want to be a super bad ass blogger and author that everyone pours over. (But mostly an author because hello, royalties it's my true passion.) So, as much as I love my blogs - after all they my main vessels to spew my thoughts and opinions onto the internet and into my friends pockets nationwide - I really just want a following of peeps who will read my stories.

(Is this so wrong?!)

Don't let me fool you, I love writing about sweet potatoes and shit but really, I just want to be on Jimmy Kimmel already! (Or Fallon...)

Off the top of my head I can think of 2 posts that skyrocketed 2 blog's popularity. One was titled the time I almost killed my son (you can read it here but be sure to come back after, ok?) and the other  The 2014 VS Catalog: A Mom's Buying Guide  After reading both of these, I immediately scrolled down to find out more about the author. Then I liked their Facebook pages. I wanted to learn more - I had to know more - about them. And apparently so did a lot of other people.

I only know these posts greatly influenced the impact these bloggers have in cyber space because they both wrote about it after. And, again, in the spirit of not fooling you, I am deeply, desperately, jealous of all their blog-love. I want someone other than myself to share my posts with their FBFs (Facebook Friends). I want the Huffington post to feature an interview on me. I WANT TO BE ON JIMMY FALLON! (Or Kimmel...)


..........but why? Can I sum it up to my instant-gratification generation? Meh, I think it goes deeper than that. What about our celeb crazed culture? Maybe, but there's always been the rich and the famous... How about the social media mania that consumes me. Probably closer to the mark... Social media makes me feel special. Plain and simple. When people "like" my rants about my hair color or dig my duck-lip selfies, I'm stoked. People are noticing me. However, truer and stronger than generation-blaming or our obsessive nature with celebrities/social media is the fact that we all want to be influential. We want people to listen - and to give a damn - about what we think, feel, act and say. I want to be on late-night TV to tell the behind the scenes of writing my book because just having people read it just isn't enough anymore..

I want to be noticed. I want to feel the comfort and confidence that comes from my words reaching others. Ideally, my words will someday grace bookshelves across the world but for now, a blog gone viral will suffice.

Love almost always,
Ashley

Ps. An alternate title for this post; Any of the Jimmy's Will Do - preferences?

Another gem I shared
with the Facebook
community