This of course had to do with the fact that the anime blogging community sucks, at least according to current standards. What community? In Kaolla’s words, “Is it edible?” I noticed that a majority of the anime blogs out there acted like RSS never existed, pingbacks and trackbacks were non-words, and comments souped up ego boosting (or as I like to say, e-go) guestbook entries. What links? Fellow anime bloggers didn’t exist, and how could you link to a non-existence about a theoretical post he or she might have done?
I am always interested to see which anibloggers frequently visit and comment on other aniblogs. Like, if you dated and then broke up with Totali, and you liked to comment on aniblogs, wouldn’t that be super awkward? It’s hard enough avoiding your ex IRL!
I always comment. It’s like a habit of signing off. But the thing is, I rarely ever comment on blogs which are either blogger-hosted (needs filling up fields) or require catcha.
This seems like a decent gauge of it, although not entirely accurate. You can only read so much until the stylistic differences in writing start to blur, so I wouldn’t say that you fail if you can’t remember who said what despite reading a lot of anime blogs.
Note that by “current standards” I meant any other active blogosphere’s. The tech blogosphere puts ours to shame, and that’s just for starters.
Anime Nano, for all its brilliance and help in getting me traffic, doesn’t do much to foster new blog growth. I’m suspecting the My Nano function is to blame to some extent, for if I’ve already collected a list of my favourite blogs, what incentive do I have to waste my time on new blogs in hopes that I might like them? New blogs are neglected and sometimes die without the attention required through those crucial months. It’s hard to break in as a result. Everyone suffers from the same opinions and a lack of fresh blood.
The downside to reading and commenting on anime blogs is that it’s draining. I personally try not to say anything if all I can muster is a “great post!” or “I agree”, since when I get those types of comments I never know what to say in reply. As a result I can take the better part of the day typing up replies to blog posts, although this has been in decline as of late. I still attempt to make the effort daily, though.
Owen: “Note that by “current standards” I meant any other active blogosphere’s. The tech blogosphere puts ours to shame, and that’s just for starters.”
To be fair, though, the tech blogosphere is the largest serious blogging community on the internet (political blogs don’t count), as well as being the most experimentally open and technically savvy, naturally.
It should be no surprise that the overall quality of the blogs and the networking is higher.
This post, on the other hand, is a good example of the kind of networking I like to see, and try to emulate – an acknowledgment of good and interesting content on the internet other than yourself, expanding on those ideas, etc.
Kabitzin: “Like, if you dated and then broke up with Totali, and you liked to comment on aniblogs, wouldn’t that be super awkward?”
In response to Owen: To be honest I think Anime Nano’s pretty decent in getting a blog’s name out there (if that’s what you mean by fostering growth). I personally don’t use the My Nano feature (just scanning the main page is enough, usually), and most of my hits come from there as well.
But I might be confusing ’sustaining existing blogs’ with ‘helping new blogs’ – it takes a bit of turn-around time for a blog to make it on Nano, after all. Still, I’ve found a couple blogs on there that I never have heard of before – to name drop, Search for Number Nine is one I like.
Going on that, I think word of mouth is still the best way for blogs to spread – if I don’t stumble upon a blog in Nano, I might check one out if it’s linked to in another blog that I read. (in a post; blogrolls are usually too huge to check)
So, uh, what, talking about blogs good? Sure. XD
And I agree with Owen in that I find it hard to comment on things if I have nothing to say, even if I like a post. But I don’t know if commenting (as Owen says, ego-boosting) is as important as creating a sense of community.
The question is how many of us want to have a real community as opposed to just a soapbox where one can rant about whatever they care about. I think quite a bit of the anime community is that.
Luckily I haven’t broke up with any of my lovers in the community yet! But yea, I also love finding out that other bloggers read blogs that I enjoy. I’m always like “Heyyy I know you. So, come here often?” This works with frequent commenters (no blog) too, but it’s a bit harder to spot. :S
I’m also liking this new category. I like it a lot.
Owen: I can write way more distinctly (bad) if you like, if you like distinction.
I gave up on the animenano as a community of bloggers and readers a while ago (roughly about 6-9 months ago) simply because of the problems you detailed. But it’s not like I was giving much back anyways. There are only a few blogs at all worth linking to, and funny enough half of them I already know without animenano’s help.
But I think animenano works great (and as an aside, still a good community for bloggers only) simply because I do scan all the blog it syndicates, at least for good microcontent. I did pick up a few good blogs that way. Also, often time a blog I almost never read would post something interesting and I’d pick it up scanning animenano.
One more note on tech blogs: I think the online tech community is HUGE. Seeing /. in its prime is a good example. But unlike the anime community they are much, much more fragmented and the blogging technology really helped it come together. The medium works for them because of size and because of diversity. Plus, much of the content is generated by the bloggers themselves in the tech scene, where as anime bloggers have no reach up the consumer chain beyond a handful of non-PR/marketing industry bloggers, especially when limited to English-language only blogs.
Anyways. I find it ironic that I’m trying to have this discussion on Sea Slugs
Like, if you dated and then broke up with Totali, and you liked to comment on aniblogs, wouldn’t that be super awkward?
LIKE, OH EM GEE!!! I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN *PMS’s*!!! :P jk, but that would be Totali awkward! Good thing I’ve never broken up with anyone! btw, that quote made my day…well, it made my day like, 8 days ago, cause my RAM/DDR thing exploded, and I had to get new RAM/DDR (BAAAAAAAAAHHHHH *Ba Dum PSH!!!* *dances on square pad* BA DUM PSSSHH*), but now my H games can play better! YAYNESS!!! Good to have my comp working great again!
@ Owen and CCY: I have the same problem too. Like, when I find a reference I like, I feel like commenting about it, but then I have nothing else to say about the post (ex: Kabi’s Shana posts) or when I just wanna say how much I wanna BONE the main character, but that would make others feel uncomfortable (ex: Totali’s Kodomo no Jikan posts) or how much I wanna comment on the “A. Nigers” but I haven’t watched the series at all cause im too busy/too lazy (ex: Orion’s Moyashimon post)
and like, oh em gee, don’t tell me no one knew about the Schedule-Makin-Playa-Pimp Totali?… this is my first time learning about animenano….I thought it was an mp3 player *BA DUM PSHH!!!* TRY DA POTATO SALAD!!!
10 Comments
I always comment. It’s like a habit of signing off. But the thing is, I rarely ever comment on blogs which are either blogger-hosted (needs filling up fields) or require catcha.
This seems like a decent gauge of it, although not entirely accurate. You can only read so much until the stylistic differences in writing start to blur, so I wouldn’t say that you fail if you can’t remember who said what despite reading a lot of anime blogs.
Note that by “current standards” I meant any other active blogosphere’s. The tech blogosphere puts ours to shame, and that’s just for starters.
Anime Nano, for all its brilliance and help in getting me traffic, doesn’t do much to foster new blog growth. I’m suspecting the My Nano function is to blame to some extent, for if I’ve already collected a list of my favourite blogs, what incentive do I have to waste my time on new blogs in hopes that I might like them? New blogs are neglected and sometimes die without the attention required through those crucial months. It’s hard to break in as a result. Everyone suffers from the same opinions and a lack of fresh blood.
The downside to reading and commenting on anime blogs is that it’s draining. I personally try not to say anything if all I can muster is a “great post!” or “I agree”, since when I get those types of comments I never know what to say in reply. As a result I can take the better part of the day typing up replies to blog posts, although this has been in decline as of late. I still attempt to make the effort daily, though.
To be fair, though, the tech blogosphere is the largest serious blogging community on the internet (political blogs don’t count), as well as being the most experimentally open and technically savvy, naturally.
It should be no surprise that the overall quality of the blogs and the networking is higher.
This post, on the other hand, is a good example of the kind of networking I like to see, and try to emulate – an acknowledgment of good and interesting content on the internet other than yourself, expanding on those ideas, etc.
Speaking from experience there Kabitzin? :P
In response to Owen: To be honest I think Anime Nano’s pretty decent in getting a blog’s name out there (if that’s what you mean by fostering growth). I personally don’t use the My Nano feature (just scanning the main page is enough, usually), and most of my hits come from there as well.
But I might be confusing ’sustaining existing blogs’ with ‘helping new blogs’ – it takes a bit of turn-around time for a blog to make it on Nano, after all. Still, I’ve found a couple blogs on there that I never have heard of before – to name drop, Search for Number Nine is one I like.
Going on that, I think word of mouth is still the best way for blogs to spread – if I don’t stumble upon a blog in Nano, I might check one out if it’s linked to in another blog that I read. (in a post; blogrolls are usually too huge to check)
So, uh, what, talking about blogs good? Sure. XD
And I agree with Owen in that I find it hard to comment on things if I have nothing to say, even if I like a post. But I don’t know if commenting (as Owen says, ego-boosting) is as important as creating a sense of community.
The question is how many of us want to have a real community as opposed to just a soapbox where one can rant about whatever they care about. I think quite a bit of the anime community is that.
Luckily I haven’t broke up with any of my lovers in the community yet! But yea, I also love finding out that other bloggers read blogs that I enjoy. I’m always like “Heyyy I know you. So, come here often?” This works with frequent commenters (no blog) too, but it’s a bit harder to spot. :S
I’m also liking this new category. I like it a lot.
Wow, smooth operator Totali divulges his internet pick-up line secretzz!
LOLOL what’s your sign?
Owen: I can write way more distinctly (bad) if you like, if you like distinction.
I gave up on the animenano as a community of bloggers and readers a while ago (roughly about 6-9 months ago) simply because of the problems you detailed. But it’s not like I was giving much back anyways. There are only a few blogs at all worth linking to, and funny enough half of them I already know without animenano’s help.
But I think animenano works great (and as an aside, still a good community for bloggers only) simply because I do scan all the blog it syndicates, at least for good microcontent. I did pick up a few good blogs that way. Also, often time a blog I almost never read would post something interesting and I’d pick it up scanning animenano.
One more note on tech blogs: I think the online tech community is HUGE. Seeing /. in its prime is a good example. But unlike the anime community they are much, much more fragmented and the blogging technology really helped it come together. The medium works for them because of size and because of diversity. Plus, much of the content is generated by the bloggers themselves in the tech scene, where as anime bloggers have no reach up the consumer chain beyond a handful of non-PR/marketing industry bloggers, especially when limited to English-language only blogs.
Anyways. I find it ironic that I’m trying to have this discussion on Sea Slugs
@ Kabitzin
LMAO…
“Is that a trackback or you just happy to see me?”
LIKE, OH EM GEE!!! I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN *PMS’s*!!! :P jk, but that would be Totali awkward! Good thing I’ve never broken up with anyone! btw, that quote made my day…well, it made my day like, 8 days ago, cause my RAM/DDR thing exploded, and I had to get new RAM/DDR (BAAAAAAAAAHHHHH *Ba Dum PSH!!!* *dances on square pad* BA DUM PSSSHH*), but now my H games can play better! YAYNESS!!! Good to have my comp working great again!
@ Owen and CCY: I have the same problem too. Like, when I find a reference I like, I feel like commenting about it, but then I have nothing else to say about the post (ex: Kabi’s Shana posts) or when I just wanna say how much I wanna BONE the main character, but that would make others feel uncomfortable (ex: Totali’s Kodomo no Jikan posts) or how much I wanna comment on the “A. Nigers” but I haven’t watched the series at all cause im too busy/too lazy (ex: Orion’s Moyashimon post)
and like, oh em gee, don’t tell me no one knew about the Schedule-Makin-Playa-Pimp Totali?… this is my first time learning about animenano….I thought it was an mp3 player *BA DUM PSHH!!!* TRY DA POTATO SALAD!!!