Often Copied, Never Equaled

Often Copied, Never Equaled

** WARNING: this post is a bit of a rant but I had to get it off my chest.**

About a year ago, a friend of mine slid into my Instagram DMs and told me that a mutual follower of ours was copying me. What? Now, I don’t follow the copier so I had no idea. I took a look, realized it was C minus work at best, and let it go. Eventually I had to block her because it kept happening and that was the end of it. 

Recently, I was surfing Instagram on my way to work and I came across something that struck me as odd. Someone else (with a following larger than mine) was copying me. They would like my posts and watch my stories and then magically everything I was posting all of a sudden started popping up in their feed. Full disclosure: I follow this person so there was no actual stalking involved (plus I ain’t got time for that). At first, I just brushed it off and moved on. Over time, I couldn’t shake the feeling and it was starting to irritate me.

I consulted with a good friend to see if I was overreacting. My friend told me to let it go. I did but I low key didn’t because IT KEPT HAPPENING. I don’t like confrontation nor do I like negative energy so I decided to mute their stories. If I don’t see their feeble attempts to copy, it won’t bother me. WRONG! They then started copying my feed! Needless to say I was pissed. So I asked my friend for advice again as well as another blogger I admire for an unbiased opinion. My friend told me to not confront them because they would get defensive and I would sound petty. My blogger mentor told me that she was going through something similar and that it wasn’t worth the fight. So I proceeded to mute this person entirely.

I say all of this because there’s a difference between being inspired and being copied. I devote a lot of time and energy to Cocoa Butter Diaries. I think of my blog shoots as if they’re editorial photo shoots for magazines because I visualize EVERY SINGLE ELEMENT: lighting, location, colors, outfits, accessories, poses…all of it! I’m also a pretty darn good writer (if I do say so myself); therefore, I’m pretty proud of the content I create. So when I see my hard work being copied it really disturbs my spirit. I’m passionate about styling while to you it’s just a hobby. Don’t make a mockery of my profession. You can copy my recipe but your sauce won’t taste the same because I’m the secret ingredient.

Besides, who would want to copy my dusty Instagram anyways?? Just kidding. My Instagram is fire and if I weren’t me I’d copy me too. Yup, I said it.

xoxo, CCB

Photographer: Sissy CCB