You run across it sometimes. Posts or comments that mention good vs bad reasons to start an anime blog. This actually exists in a lot of communities. Notions about having the right intentions behind a YouTube or Twitch channel are occasionally floated. And it’s sort of an odd concept. Like, do you really need to have some type of moral authority to pick up a hobby?
Personally, I don’t think there are any bad or wrong reasons to start a blog. Actually, wait, let me rethink that.
If you start a blog in hopes of luring children into some sort of kidnapping ring, That’s wrong! That’s a bad blog. I’m putting my foot down! Also, creating a blog full of viruses in hopes to get personal information from everyone who visits is also not great. But short of actually nefarious or illegal reasons, everything else is fair play if you ask me!
If you tell me, you started an anime blog even though you hate anime, for the sole purpose of convincing a cute girl in your class to talk to you. Well, I actually think that’s kind of adorable. As long as you treat her well, I hope she gives you a chance!
And honestly, I believe most people would agree with me. The problem is often not the actual motivation itself, but rather when a person tries to come off as something they are not. Maybe they see that anime blogs get a lot of views (They don’t but just humour me) and simply want to get in on that to make more Adsense. I think that an author who simply states that they are using their blog as a secondary source of income and think that an anime blog would provide that. And then just strives to learn about anime along with the community would be welcomed. I know that I would find it interesting to see someone’s anime journey right from the start. After all, most people who are passionate enough about it to start a blog have been watching anime for years before their first post.
However, if that same person creates a profile or identity to make themselves seem like an expert on the matter and a passionate fan. People will probably feel a little betrayed if the truth is discovered. Especially if those people are passionate anime fans themselves and thought they had found a kindred spirit only to be disappointed.
Although the motivations are the same in both cases. In one I feel like readers would find that motivation to be lacking even though it was fine for the other. I hope that sentence makes sense. It does to me but I’m not entirely sure it would to anyone else.
However, I do think that there’s a sort of blogging natural selection or survival instinct behind these ideas of good and bad reasons to blog. Generally speaking, people seem more favourable to bloggers that are sharing a passion, looking for a community and/or purely doing it out of personal enjoyment. Whereas they are occasionally a little less enthusiastic for blogs that are openly only created for monetary gain or personal promotion (i.e. gaining a fan base), without an actual interest in the topics they cover. Basically, blogs that could and would post about anything if it got them more views.
To be clear, I’m not that familiar with the larger blogging community. Maybe this is not an issue at all with like health and wellness blogs or cryptocurrency blogs… Are there cryptocurrency blogs? Actually, never mind.
But in the anime blogging community, these types of blogs don’t get that much traction. And I think that one of the reasons is that these are just bad reasons to start an anime blog.
I know I sound like I’m contradicting myself. I don’t mean bad as in wrong or evil. I mean bad as in inefficient. The plain and simple fact is that the heyday of blogs has already come and gone. There was a time when popular blogs were all over the internet. They could easily net you advertising deals and promotional contracts, even book deals. But nowadays, most blogs just don’t attract that much attention, especially not amateur ones.
People prefer more dynamic content like Youtube, Tik Tok or Twitch or more easily digestible content like Instagram. Content you can occasionally just have as background noise while you do something else, or that you can take in in a minute.
I’ve even had other anime bloggers tell me my posts are just too long to read and they don’t have time for it. I have a comparatively low word count and these are like my prime audience. And I can’t blame them, it is tough to keep your attention span focused on posts when there is so much going on in everyday life. It’s way easier to just look at a picture and like it. Before anyone feels bad, I am extremely grateful to people who make the effort to like one of my posts or leave me a comment even though they don’t have time to read them. I think that’s super cool of you guys. And I have a pretty hectic work schedule myself so I fully sympathize with the time crunch.
This tells me though, that the basic person out there is probably not going to seek out blogging content. They are going to look for a YouTube review of anime or maybe even just an instant screencap with a descriptive caption. And if you want a lot of followers for whatever reason or a chance at making a decent living online, these are the formats you need to adopt.
Honestly, if you blog only for money or fame, especially in anime, you’re probably going to quit pretty quickly. It’s simply not a good way to achieve those goals. And up to a certain point, if you blog for the community, it might also become an issue. If you’re the extroverted sort who has the energy to maintain a lot of online relationships through various channels, you will probably be able to find a nice group of bloggers to fit in with. But if you’re either shy or introverted and aren’t as interested in going through Twitter and/or discord, you might get lonely just chatting with folks on your blog. Because there aren’t that many people compared to other platforms.
I think that this is why I have seen so many bloggers make the jump to Twitch as Vtubers. Livestreaming doesn’t require any fancy editing or anything and you can retain your anonymity. Effort wise it seems pretty similar to blogging in general. But I have heard that it’s exponentially easier to build an audience.
When you consider all of this, if on some level you’re not having fun blogging for personal reasons, well it’s just not worth it. At least in my opinion. Maybe there are some unique goals I haven’t considered. Like you honestly believe bloggers are sexy so although it’s a bit of a chore you still do it. Like exercising. I mean that’s a cool reason, I would love to meet someone like that.
Before I leave though, I also want to make sure I haven’t given you guys too negative an image. I do stand behind what I’ve said in this post but it’s mostly from secondhand information. I have not personally attempted to make a name for myself on different platforms, so I can’t compare.
And although the anime blogging community may be comparatively small when looking at anime communities on other platforms, I have found that it is delightful. One of the advantages of smaller communities is that they generally tend to be kinder and calmer. People that just want to troll or create drama for drama’s sake are going to want a bigger audience. So if you are more interested in finding a few nice people than in getting 1M followers, blogging is actually great for that! Way less creepy than most of the other platforms I have been casually on.
Took me a while but I’ve finally made one, not sure how active I can be, but thanks for the motivation regardless!
That’s awesome. I hope you have fun with y
Maybe it says something about me but I just didn’t put that much thought into it! It simply occurred to me that since I like anime I should write about it. I had no thoughts of getting a huge readership (which I don’t) or making money (which I haven’t) or impressing anyone (no chance). I just thought I’d write about something I like…
That sounds great. I think most people go that way, especially for anime. It is niche after all.
I’m still kind of new to blogging, so I am not sure if writing a blog is beyond its heyday again just got into the blogging scene. I think whatever media whether is blogging, streaming, or something it’s still hard to gain an audience for yourself. I was told for streaming and such you need to have some sort of personality that attracts people. It’s the reason why I chose blogging more than streaming and was hesitant to even do a radio podcast that I am currently planning.
I started blogging with a personal goal of trying to find what I want to do in my life. I don’t know what it is, but I know I wanted to do something with what I’m passionate about and one of them is anime.
I knew blogging is hard and was sad before because I couldn’t get views before, but after a while I realize that I really enjoy anime and wanted to talk about it a lot. I was even happy when I found other bloggers as well and tried my best to read their blogs (with whatever free time I can get in my life) cause its so interesting and fun to hear everyone’s opinions. Not only that everyone is very friendly and nice!
I’m still planning to do a radio podcast, but I know that I’m gonna keep on blogging!
Podcasts are a lot of fun as well. I’m looking forward to seeing what you can do
I’ve been anime blogging since 2016. I’ve had ups and downs since I work sporadically. I fell out of blogging after 2017 but I have restarted blogging back in 2020.
I think my reason for blogging is because I like writing about things in general whether it be anime, manga, books, etc.
I do Youtube and such, but that’s because I like making videos and such.
Also, the reason I blog is to have a setback on writing just in case if my life doesn’t plan out the way I want. I also use it as a platform for when I become an actual novelist.
Saying things like this makes it feel as if I have selfish reasons for blogging…
I really do love blogging though! It’s a lot more than I remembered it being back in 2016.
I blog cause it’s fun which is the most selfish reason. I mean,selfish reasons for hobbies is pretty much the only way to go.
I hope you have a great career as a novelist
Thank you. I hope you have success in your career.
“Livestreaming doesn’t require any fancy editing or anything and you can retain your anonymity. Effort wise it seems pretty similar to blogging in general. But I have heard that it’s exponentially easier to build an audience.”
It actually isn’t, with live streaming or you tubing, you really have to put yourself out there, if you want to build a community. Not only that, there is a bit of work that goes on in streaming / YT. Mostly (not all) technical stuff, like for instance streaming, getting the right bitrate for the stream, make sure the pip is in the right place etc. With blogging if anything is much straight forward and requires less work.
Maybe the bloggers turn Youtuber and Streamer I talked to just got lucky. I was always told that 100 views was relatively easy to get for them even though they never managed it on a post. It was the main reason we lost like 6 bloggers to Twitch in the span of a few months a few. years ago.
It’s also most likely a personal experience. I have only done a couple of streams and for me it was a lot easier than writing posts but for someone who is very talented at writing and doesn’t need to do much research but isn’t as comfortable with leaving a setup in their office and banting it would probably be the opposite.
It’s really a matter of preference. As someone who’s done both for an extended amount of time. Streaming was alot easier to get eyes and engagement. Building a community and that stuff is just about the same. Its work on both ends and because video content is where it’s at. You have an advantage over blogging. The technical skills aside.
Depends on what you’re streaming tbh. The more saturated the subject is, the harder it is to get eyes and engagement. You can be speaking to the void for a period of time, till someone comes along and says something. Even then, it’s no guarentee that person will stick, bounce or just lurk. With blogging you have the advantage of leaving things in draft, till it’s ready to be posted at any time. Youtube, for vids truth is, if it has value then people will look for it, plus the YT algorithm and likes helps the channel out, otherwise most will look past if your vid doesn’t provide the value they are looking for. I may not have done streaming, vid, podcasting for a long period of time, it has given me enough idea to see which you have to put more effort in.
I blog because I don’t carry around a piece of paper. And no I don’t keep notes on my phone because other people won’t be able to read what I have to say…
so you blog because you want people to know what you have to say! Cool
Sometimes I blog to to clarify my thoughts.
I prefer the long form of blogging over all those short form social media. Memes and soundbites can be fun but can’t really communicate anything complex. If something is important, it is usually complex. All the simple issues get resolved quickly.
I don’t do well in a video, so that’s out. And an hour of video is about as good as a 10 minute read in terms of useful information.
oh wow, you have a poor view of videos
Or I read very quickly.
I agree that blogging is probably beyond it’s heyday. That may not be a bad thing. In time blogs that are articles “written” by wordspinner programs fed top 100 keywords or purely commercial clickbait will fade away because they will cease to be profitable, and that would not piss me off. That will leave blogging to those who are passionate about the subject, and who enjoy the depth of a written word article, and the people who have the passion and who love to write. I think we’re going to be here for a good long time yet as a community, puttering along in our little friendly corner of the Internet, having fun, watching anime, writing about it, reading and commenting on it. Lots of room on the Internet for everyone. Meanwhile the rest of the FOMO (the new “conspicious consumption” – that’ll show my age) world can go spinning off to the newest, shiniest (and if often seems the rantyist) thing and we won’t miss ’em.
You have a point, there are a lot less of those blogs that were simply reposting others without credit. That use to be a plague a few years ago
When I read the paragraph about the guy who writes an anime blog soley to get close to the girl he likes, I immediately thought that sounds like an anime rom-com plot waiting to happen (or maybe it’s already happened? I wouldn’t be surprised). But, yeah, you should be upfront about what you’re doing – you don’t need to reveal everything – but a web-log of your journey into anime sounds cool. Someone posing as an anime fan sounds… dull? Awkward? There’s so much that could go wrong. If nothing goes wrong, and this guy fools me into believing they’re actually an anime fan, and I find out he’s not? To be honest, rather than feeling betrayed, I’d feel impressed. That’s quite the feat. I mean they’d have wasted more of their own time than of mine. If I had fun reading the posts, I had fun reading the posts. Also, writing them takes longer.
I mean I’ve come across blogs that consist mostly of top 10 lists with huge promo art and little text that’s mostly summeries. I’d eventually just scroll through the lists to see what shows come up, and I’m unlikely to remember to come back. So someone actually getting me interested despite not liking anime? I respect the talent and dedication, and I wonder why they’d put it into something they actually care about. Maybe the challenge is the reason? Aspiring method actors? None of my business really, but they’re welcome to my clicks.
I’ve been thinking about making a blog for years, but always had some excuses like what if no one will read it or what if I make embarrassing grammar mistakes etc. But this post was really motivating and I decided to actually start one soon, so thanks!
I have a guest post on this site. It contains embarrassing grammar mistakes. It also contains embarrassing etc. I regret nothing. Good luck with your blog; I hope you have fun. (Also, where’s your avatar picture from? It looks vaguely familiar. Manga?)
And it’s a great post.
I’M going to guess that avatar pic is from FLCL.
Ah FLCL. That sounds about right. (I watched the first episode twice or three times, and the rest… never. Can’t get into it for some reason.)
Really?? That is so awesome! I hope you let us know when it’s up! Blogging can be a ton of fun and I hope you enjoy it
Definitely start a blog! It’s so much fun and you’ll meet lots of nice anime fans!
Welcome to the community. Hope your blogging journey is everything that you want it to be.
“If you start a blog in hopes of luring children into some sort of kidnapping ring, That’s wrong!”
Count Olaf would like a word with you.
Jokes aside, I do blogging because I can’t make videos for now, and my reviews don’t get much attention because I don’t use images.
But I do it, because I like anime. I also feel that if you do something just for money, it kind of reflects in your writing, and the reader will detect that sooner or later. A lot of people think that anime blogs are saturated. What do you think about that?
Considering there are about half the amount there were a few years ago, I wouldn’t say saturated personally. Maybe passé?
I think the market was saturated at a point but most bloggers tap out at some point. So it balances it out. But i’m sure if that’s the case currently because I’ve been out of the loop for a few years now. But at a point it was true.
I do remember there being a lot more blogs and activity when I started out. Maybe it’ll pick up again but it’s been getting quieter for a few years now
Maybe. I’m glad you’re still around though.
aww thank you
I think the anime blogging community is pretty good at spotting the bloggers that aren’t really into the medium. But I think more than anything, if you are not passionate about what you are writing about, you will run out of ideas of what to write pretty fast.
One of the biggest reasons I started my anime blog was because I loved anime and wanted to talk to other people about it but all the conventions in my area had closed due to Covid and there wasn’t any anime clubs for non students. To sum up, I was a lonely anime fan.
A few people have recommended trying Youtube ect. but honestly I prefer writing my thoughts out. I have a pretty long history of writing, and I just feel more comfortable with that form of expression.
I’m glad to hear it since I prefer reading about anime!