I want share some thoughts about Anime Blogosphere’s longevity since this post sparked my interest. Ever since the first Aniblog Tourney finished in 2010, good amount of blogs have died at the 1 to 2-year mark while new ones pop up. Only a handful ever passed the three years and beyond mark. There are many factors I have explained such as time management issues. However, there are other aspects that I haven’t covered, which I like to share. (Image Source)
One of the most common reasons why blogs die is the lack of motivation. It could happen as part of being stressed out from work/school, infrequent social interactions or the lack of satisfaction. In a sense, we all have reasons why we blog about anime. I can explain this through McGregor’s Theory Y of Motivation. He states that people are self-motivated and ambitious, thus they tend to enjoy work that gives a satisfying experience. In a sense, this is true since most Anime Bloggers wants to share the passion of the medium and have fun. However, there are reasons why some lose motivation and frequently go on hiatus. Writing and proofreading posts along with replying to comments takes time and commitment. If a person feel that blogging taking time away from other important things, it’s always best to take a break or update less frequently (ex: once a week). Even so, some bloggers might become less motivated to continue for other reasons because they lack of inspiration or experience burnout.
The second factor why a blogger might give up is the lack of inspiration. Obviously, you need to have some idea of what to write about, which might include an interesting moment to touch upon in a series, something related to the fandom, personal experiences or something that you enjoy watching. Creativity goes a long way in grabbing the interest and/or bringing up a good point to the reader. Episodic posts are usually disadvantaged at this aspect because you are usually restricted to the content shown in a particular episode. For that reason, editorial and review blogs or a mix of the three tends to face fewer problems than pure episodic blogs because there is more freedom to become creative. However, this is not always the case since some ideas or a certain argument takes time to come into our minds. On the other hand, once the person knows what to write about, writing these posts are easy. Even with this, the continual lack of inspiration might lead to burnout if unresolved.
Lastly, burnout is probably the least apparent and is the most troubling. If a blogger lacks any inspiration or feels pressured by page views, they might make posts that hold no redeeming quality whatsoever, some welding the typical title of “I’m not dead” before entering a never-ending hiatus. In some instances, some bloggers just spontaneously disappear, thus we never hear a word from them ever again. I refer this as burnout, where the blogger loses all interest to continue. It doesn’t mean the person gives up anime all together, although it’s a possibility. Still, creating one definition of burnout is difficult for the fact there is a lot of factors that causes this to happen. Also, there are rare instances where some bloggers return to blogging after a long period of inactivity.
In conclusion, Anime Blogging is a commitment that a person needs in order to last, especially if you run a personal blog. Team Blogs tends to last longer because there are always willing people who will publish content. Still, bloggers should motivate themselves by writing content that is fun and interesting. In addition, practicing proper time management plays a big role in preventing burnout while making the experience less stressful. Lastly, creativity and inspiration is closely connected to motivation as it brings fun into the writing process. At the end of the day, don’t let the large number of dead blogs disturb you. Just enjoy what you doing and people will respect you for your efforts.
I wonder to what extent people think that blogging is an easy task. Sure, they might be fooled by the volume of content other blogs can seemingly generate on the fly, but when it comes to actually writing out endless streams of thoughts, how hard it can be to clear those thoughts into something more coherent. And as blogging becomes more like work, the less appealing it becomes and those who were never heavily invested to begin with drop off slowly…
Given my experiences, writing and proofreading takes a lot of time, which is why I can’t really make over 30 posts a month most of the time. For some shows like slice of life comedies, they are a lot easier to write down compared to some of the deeper shows. They are usually 300-500 words, unless I have a lot to talk about.For editorials and reviews, they take hours or even several days to write depending on how much research and digging around I need to do in order to finish a post. It’s still not finished because I have to proofread and read over the post two or three times. Although I never felt the pressure since college isn’t intense as it used to, but I cannot predict what the future holds.
But yes, most people don’t realize how much work and effort it takes to write a single post. I’m surprised that I made it this far without wanting to give up. It’s probably because i’m motivated and have a lot of free time to spare.
I still don’t quite like the concept of team blog even if it keeps the blogs afloat, it dilutes the opinion and the image of the blog leaving the reader with no proper way of identifying easily a particular blog by the writer style.
Although team blogs do allow people to blog without actually committing themselves, I agree that it does weaken the author’s opinion because they are a collection of posts from other people. This is why you see some people maintain their own blogs even though they are part of the crew. I know some people who does this off from my mind: Kevo and Zzeroparticle. There are a few who started their own blog, such as Akirascuro as you see with some of his blog posts on Anime Nano.
Still, I think a team blog works best for a specialization in a certain aspect of Anime. Anime Instrumentality Blog is a great example as it focuses primarily on music and I actually contributed a few reviews there in the past since it’s more suited there than on my blog.
I think the important thing for bloggers to remember is to write what they want, and not feel obligated to do things in some specific way. I think many people might just feel it necessary to blog at least (some number) shows, or to blog about every episode, or to focus on currently-airing anime, etc. Instead, just do what feels best, and feel free to change how you approach things when the need arises.
It might also be helpful to try to not become nonstop uber-critical. If you’re never writing about a show you enjoy, then I imagine things could become more tedious. =/
Also, it’s a big help if you can get a few people all commenting on each other’s blogs with some degree of regularity, so there’s some support going on.
In a sense, I only pick a few shows to cover in a season and then add on to it once the season ends. Since I’m in college, I have limited time because of homework, but I’m teaching myself Japanese on a daily basis. But I do agree that people should focus more on shows that they enjoy rather than rage about a show that they know they won’t like and continue to the end (there is a reason why taste tests exist, so you have an idea how the show goes). It does take a hit on motivation, unless the person has some kind of fascination in the negative, which there are some people who are like that. Still, it can turn off some readers, so I think its best to balance things out since life is already short… I would rather enjoy stuff I like rather than shows I will absolutely hate.
Of course, I never really feel obligated to blog all the time. I just do so when I finish watching an episode or if some kind of editorial comes into my mind. Then, I would write about it.
As much as it pains me to see some of my fellow bloggers leave the blogsphere I still remain hopeful that the blogshpere will remain strong and bonded. The anime blogsphere especially is a minority hence we probably know one another though each blog. Its a small world for us which makes it easier for us to communicate to each other, Ive met so many new friends that they themselves also knew each other which makes it much more interesting.
For me, I had my ups and downs with blogging, i even took a 4 months break because I just had not willingness to blog. However leaving the blogsphere has never once come across my mind, Ive become to attached to it through time. The problem is what you can blog about, as time goes by you start scratching your head because youve ran out of ideas, thats the best time I think to go on a break and refresh your mind.
Furthermore what Chollsose said is perfect!
I think the perception of dying blogs is why people feel down although the blogosphere isn’t really in a big turmoil… If you check the percent change of 6th month ago with the help of feal87, well.
Blogs alive: 236 -> 255 (7.84% change)
Blogs Dead: 408 ->429 (4.90% change)
In reality, it seems that the blogosphere is doing fine because new blogs will always take a place of a dead one. But still, I think blogs are better in a way compared to forum posting since it’s more personal and allow us to discuss more in detail. In fact, it has energized discussion on social networks and allow people to share these posts so others who haven’t known about it would get to read other opinions from other people.
As for breaks, they can happen as other people did so and then come back to another season. It’s mostly has to deal with reliving one from getting to the point of no return where burnout is permanent. As long they eventually come back and still participate in socializing while they are not blogging, I don’t see why not. However, it does have some impact on the readership though.