As expected, another year has flown by and here we are. Sure, my twelfth year of blogging faced a lot of difficulties with the lack of engagement in terms of comments. While it was frustrating, how did the thirteenth year of blogging fare? A lot better than expected and hoped.
Despite Covid19 still ranging on, thankfully not too many titles faced delays like in 2021. As a result, with the number of titles I covered, engagement has seen an improvement. Overall, it was probably the best compared to the latter half of 2010. Still, I think there is still work that needs to get done to keep the trend going in that regard. Also, it’s nice to see my follower count on Twitter to go over 230, which has been stuck there for several years.
While there were some readers became upset over my decision to disable WordPress.com likes completely, I implemented a replacement system with reactions, which like spammers cannot abuse to advertise their blog. This is still a rampant problem that is still going on with WordPress.com, which caused me to cancel the Jetpack subscription. After all, they are unwilling to implement tools to ban or remove spam likes despite being against the terms of service.
Besides that, it’s obvious that I will continue to blog about anime and related things into the future. Of course, there are still things I have in store such as finalizing the character design for the mascot and redesign the blog theme again. This will probably happen in May/June of this year, which depends on several things. As I progress with my WaniKani and refocusing efforts on preparing for the JLPT N3, which I plan to do in 2023, I will probably get more reviews of manga and video games out of the door.
Even so, plans of going to an Anime convention is still up in the air. While the Omicron variant is finally waning very quickly as it spiked, hopefully Covid will finally get under control. Hopefully there won’t be another variant coming out of the blue. Still, I am iffy about attending Otakon, which will depend on several factors as if there are any guests attending and if there is another variant (I hope not). We’ll see in May before I go and begin making plans.
Lastly, there is of course the elephant in the room. That is the return to the office. While I am still working at home every week, it won’t be this way forever. I do plan to telework two days a week, which means I still have some time to cover anime.
Unlike before the pandemic, I can now use mobile hotspot. Last year, my parents finally changed the cell plans to one that has mobile hotspot. This gives me the flexibility to watch some stuff when I commute back home and write some of it. This will help since spring is looking to become a busy one yet again. Also, I plan to make more audio versions of our posts, mainly reviews or editorials where I left off.
Either way, hopefully the 14th year of blogging will be a good one. Hopefully we can keep this trend going. Will I make it to 20 years of blogging? We must wait and see on that one. Of course, I would also like to thank my subscribers and followers who continue to support us. We appreciate the support and continue to do so.
Here’s to as many more years as possible of Chikorita machismo! Happy 13th blogiversary dood!
Hopefully so, although it has been a challenge and basically an endurance challenge, but we’ll make it.
gz on your blog turning 13!!. Hopefully things will pick up for you, keep on trucking and keep your head held high.
Yes, time really flies that far since I started this blog when I started college. Sure, the start of the year isn’t going well as I hope and it’s fustrating, but hopefully things turn around soon.