Once again, bloggers from different parts of the Internet sphere were in attendance at BlogCon’s third year last April 30, this time to give their stories on how they started blogging, what made them stay, all the best parts and the hard things they have to endure, and how they reached out to new trends.

At the AMV Auditorium filled with over 70 blogging enthusiasts, fashion and portrait photographer Elisa Aquino (shemakeshimknown.com) recalled how she found fuel in heartbreak to make her first blog. From the sappy ruins of a failed romance, she first stood up as a fashion blogger, providing self-portraits despite her insecurities. Then she began taking photos of other people and sharing their stories. She also shared that our identity must not be defined by a social media fame as she specifically cited Instagram’s biggest lie: that you are as great as your next destination.

The theme shifted from fashion to food as the next speaker is a proud food lover and enthusiast. Jill Bantang (http://www.thefoodscout.net/) shared the fun and satisfying experience of having to write food reviews as blogging is, for her, a way of informing and communicating to people. For Bantang, blogging is a way to actually help and elevate people by giving them something new with every post. She simultaneously satisfies herself whilst giving back the satisfaction to the curious minds of food lovers.

From the gentleness of fashion and food follows the audacity of the next speaker, Andre Arboleda (http://asshulz.com/), also known in the Internet as Asshulz. He emphasized how he personally did not pay attention to blogging trends as the hobby for him provides a wide array of things to do—and it’s basically doing whatever you want. From glorifying underrated movies to making mixtapes about titas to inciting gimmicks, Arboleda sure loves to do away with whatever he wants. He does not consider fame to be one of his fundamental goals for blogging is not a fame game.

Carla Barretto (https://twitter.com/heycarlaaa), a fifth of the PhilippineConcerts.com (http://www.philippineconcerts.com/), shared how she owes what she has today for her love of concerts. From being an avid fan to actually doing it for a living, she encourages her listeners to utilize what they have — in this case, the internet — and let it coincide with what they love.

“Terrible is a great place to start. Take your chances,” she said.

Dipping toes in new water and just go with it seems to be the power couple Anthony and Tippy Go’s (http://www.googlygooeys.com) mantra. They said that knowing your capabilities and embracing your flaws give edge. “There are a lot of things you can’t control but you have to trust yourself in the process.”

“Social Media Princess” Ate Charon (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC32KKtAWv7KLt0wvrEWk8ig) shares that the brand she advocates is authenticity and honesty with substance however light your subject may be. She also shared the dark alleys of Internet fame like followers and like-buying.

“Social media fame is not everything,” she noted.

To RJ Ledesma (http://rjledesma.com/), Philippine Star columnist and Mercato Centrale co-founder (and actually many more!), the Internet is where almost everything happens these days. He elaborated on making one’s irritations to one’s inspirations, and shared how his own Mercato group started with just a realization while he was traveling—that there is no food market in the country.

Mark Anicas (http://markanicas.wordpress.com/), known for his book and Twitter handle Depinisyon, recounts how he started writing for himself and advices others to write for themselves before all else. Moreover, he goes on to break this image of writers only having to choose one platform.

“Explore and be versatile. Hindi pwedeng isang genre lang, at lalong hindi pwede na isang platform lang. It can be Facebook, or it can even be Twitter,” he said.

Alyssa Lapid (http://alyssalapid.com/), Managing Editor for Explore Philippines and Social Media Manager of SoFA Design Institute, shared how she wondered why she was chosen to be an SM ambassador. Eventually, she mustered up the courage to ask and was told that it was because she was different and although she was not as popular as the other models, she was chosen for being herself and for setting her own trend. She encouraged the audience to do the same, to be courageous and a trend-setter.

Student bloggers: from a young blogger to another.

Aside from professional ones, student bloggers also shared their experience, knowledge, and pieces of advice in blogging.

15-year-old Brin Isaac (brinraizulliisaac.wordpress.com) brought the delegates into a journey of self discovery and self-expression as she narrated her five-year blogging pursuit that accidentally began upon unearthing the allure of social media. She also stressed on diverting from strong conformity or trends whenever it comes to updating her own blog posts.

“I realized that I didn’t have to define my specialty, my own specialty is honesty. I didn’t have to stress about updating or what my content should be as dictated by strong conformity or the trends,” she said. “I said to myself that I didn’t have to post about this or that. What I wanted to do is to focus on something that needs attention.”

TomasinoWeb writer and literary blogger Philip Jamilla (http://paperbackriot.tumblr.com/) delved into the anatomy of the recently popularized hugot movement which dominated millennials’ digital realm. He also encouraged bloggers to avoid writing like anyone else.

“It’s not always relatability, it’s not always heartbreak, it’s not always love. Minsan kasi we focus too much on the ‘hugot movement’. We should get out of that as much as possible, try to explore other aspects of poetry,” Jamilla added. The freshman literary student recognized the importance of embracing criticisms as a foundation for improvement.

Her passion for photojournalism and her desire to spark social change through her photos constantly fuelled journalism freshman Jazmin Tabuena’s (https://placidoccult.wordpress.com/) blogging journey.

“Parang kapag ginagawa ko ‘yong blogging, and talk about photography, sobrang nabubuhay ka kahit nasa field ka na hindi mo gusto. When you do something about your passion, it feels so alive.” Tabuena also admitted that some bloggers lack the quality of a storyteller nowadays thus, she emphasized on “finding one’s voice”.

Meanwhile, Roye Serrano emphasized the irony of disconnecting one’s self from technology to produce new and vibrant blogging ideas.

“You only need technology when you need to post. To have a good idea, nasa labas ‘yan,” Serrano affirmed. “Wonder about everything, even the most mundane things.” Having a unique “vantage point” or view on one’s environment was also stressed by Serrano, saying that perceiving things differently sets a blogger apart from tons of similar contents produced by others.

“If you want to have a unique idea, you have to look at things differently. You have to exercise your eyes,” he added.   Moreover, Serrano believes that a blogger should narrate a story positively, and learn to differentiate a “rant” from sharing one’s tale.

BlogCon was first launched in September 2013. It focuses on and encourages student bloggers and enthusiasts by inviting professional and renowned bloggers to talk about their Internet experiences and wisdom they have collected throughout the journey.