When you don’t have the traditional support network of family and friends, chasing your goals is particularly challenging. And if, like me, you’ve also learned to be a private person, blogging and using social media can initially feel odd.

Yet people are achieving goals and connecting and helping others via Youtube, blogs and social media platforms. I workout to fitness-entrepreneur Cassey Ho’s Pilates videos and follow her blog for recipes and exercise plans.

Jaclyn Glenn has forged a career on Youtube, with videos centred on atheism and social issues. Although I do not agree with Glenn on everything, she is creating some of the clearest, most intelligent and compassionate content around.

I’ve found it easy to go beyond the ubiquitous fashion bloggers into, for example, the world of women who shoot. I’ve long been interested in the cultural and historical significance of firearms in the United States, and following various new social media stars and outspoken proponents of the Second Amendment offers fascinating insights not otherwise available through mainstream coverage.

So some of the most vibrant content providers, role models and entrepreneurs are internet personalities. Some of these successes are genuine celebrities now; they have ‘fans’ in the same manner as the more conventionally famous.

In a society that has somewhat snobby and contradictory ideas about the accepted paths to fame or success, this aspect of social media and blogging is an interesting one and a topic I may return to explore.

Having drawn so much inspiration and information from online commentators and creators, I decided to take the step from follower and consumer to active social media participant and blogger, and be a part of an incredible community.