Why You (Yes You!) Should Be An Idol Blogger, Part 2


Serenyty | June 25, 2012 | 3 comments

Back in August of 2011 I wrote an article for my blog Happy Disco, “Why you (yes you!) Should Be an Idol Blogger”, that ended up being a really great thing for my personal idol fandom. Looking back at the two years I’ve been doing this, it’s the favorite thing I’ve written. Not only has it occasionally reminded me why I put a lot of time into working on Happy Disco, but it also started a great discussion and a couple of idol blogs that I admire.

Since writing it, while I’ve seen some new temporary idol blogs and I see some blogs on Hello! Online, there hasn’t been a major resurgence in idol blogging. To be honest, I didn’t expect that to happen; I’m not a major, influential writer, and idol blogging is a relatively small community. However, I thought it would be fitting to write some more reasons for idol blogging and why you should take it up!

Japan is in an idol boom now, the time is right!

When I first became an idol fan, in late 2007 /early 2008, the idol world was in a bit of a slump. Morning Musume was continuing its decline, AKB48 hadn’t risen to popularity yet, and Johnny’s Entertainment idols were the only ones who were really prominent. Today AKB48 is at an all time high, dominating last year’s Oricon yearly chart, groups like Super Girls, Idoling!!! and Momoiro Clover Z are doing better than ever, Hello! Project seems to be trying to do something new, for better or worse, and indie idol groups are getting more and more attention with events like the Tokyo Idol Festival.

There’s a major boom in the popularity of idol groups and the amount of idol groups. So really, there’s no shortage of things to write about now. With all these things going on right now, the time is right to start an idol blog and talk about your favorite group!

The Rest of the World Seems to be Taking Notice

Asian pop music is slowly starting to be talked about in the Western world a lot more. Maybe I think this because I’ve been looking for this discussion, but Korean Pop music in particular is a hot topic right now. Artists have tried (and failed) to get started in the US, but now with the recent Kpop concert in California, performances of Girls Generation on American talk shows and the anticipated debut of various Korean groups in the US, there’s a possibility of Asian music growing in popularity. While I follow Jpop, the popularity of AKB48 has led it to be discussed by high profile news organizations/websites, such as the Wall Street Journal and CNN. Interest is high in Asian music, and I think it’s a really interesting time to join in on the discussion.

The community is still fantastic!

I love the wota community, I really do. While I’m only semi-active on the most popular idol websites such as Hello! Online and Stage 48, I’m very active in a Facebook group that discusses Momoiro Clover Z and I’m very grateful for the friends and acquaintances that idols have brought me. I have had a lot of fun talking with wonderful people; for example, Greg of Selective Hearing and I tweeted back and forth about the Kpop concert on YouTube. I’m not even the most connected idol blogger out there, but when I can get involved I have a lot of fun.

You Can Share Your Opinions To a Greater Effect

Imagine, you see a PV on YouTube and it’s honestly the greatest thing you think you’ve ever seen. Your favorite idol is at her absolute cutest, the song is amazing, and you want everyone to see this PV straight away. You can share it to your friends on Skype, but you won’t convince many people. However, it’s so easy to share your opinions on a blog, and they may have an influence with people you don’t even know.

One of my favorite idols is the lovely Iwasa Misaki, and she’s my second favorite girl in AKB48. A major part of discovering Wasamin and becoming her fan has to be credited to CK and his blog Chuo Dori, where he detailed why he loves Wasamin and how he became her fan. His writing of her was so great that it made me want to look up Wasamin and I ended up becoming her fan. This might not happen with everyone and it’s not guaranteed to happen, but blogging about the things you like might end up with some good results!

Resume Building

I’m being completely serious when I tell you that I put Happy Disco on my resume. If I sent you my resume, at the bottom I have a small sentence about Happy Disco. This might not be applicable for everyone; I’m currently at the end of my university life and trying to start a career somewhere in the media industry, and the part time jobs I’ve held over the years don’t necessarily apply to what I want to do. If you’re in the sciences or engineering, saying you write an idol blog might not be the most helpful. However, if you are anything like me, following idols is a hobby that takes a good amount of time in your life. If you’re spending so much time on this hobby, why not make it look constructive?

Of course, the initial things I wrote about still apply, both good and bad. A lot of idol blogging is thankless, and it’s hard to get a lot of feedback even if you put a lot of effort. It’s a lot of work to get readers, and even still there’s really no way you’ll become a famous blogger or make a living off of your blog. However, it’s a really fun hobby that I really enjoy and that I’d like to see from more people!

Plus, there really are all sorts of blogs out there. I appreciate certain ones for news about idols (something that might be interesting if you’re into the more indie groups out there!), blogs where there’s a lot of pictures, blogs with reviews, blogs with analysis, and basically anything you can think of. They all have value, and if you want to write one I’m going to be the person to say go for it!

Right now, to back up what I’ve said and why I really think that there should be more blogging, I’m going to make everyone an offer. If you have an idol blog and you want me to read it and potentially put it in a Recommended Reading post on Idolminded, send me an email at writerserenyty@gmail.com In addition, if you feel hesitant about putting your writing online or you just want an opinion on your blog before you upload it, email me as well. I can’t guarantee I’ll know what you’re writing about. However, if you want any advice, proofreading or just a quick read over, I’ll try to check it out, schedule willing.

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3 Comments

  • http://twitter.com/MiyoshiAyakaFan James Reed

    I’ve been writing a blog since November 2011, as you surely know now, and I agree with a lot of what you are saying.  I’m doing my best to promote less known idols, since I find their music to be more exciting than whatever is popular with the majority of fans.  I may not have a lot of readers or supporters, but at least the few people who do read my blog have posted some nice comments.  These people – who come from all corners of the globe and speak languages that I don’t – have thanked me for writing about these groups I love and introducing them to some great unknown idols.  Another reason why I blog about a lot of less known groups is that no one else is doing it.  When I come across an idol blog, I see way too many blogs writing about the same popular groups over and over.  This is so boring!  There’s a lot of great talent out there, and some of these groups are just starting out.  Some idol groups have been around for years, and they are still being ignored.  These less known groups are getting ignored, I think, because joining the popularity bandwagon and writing about H!P and 48 groups seems more important to certain bloggers. The less known idols may not have a CD single available to purchase at CD Japan, YesAsia or itunes, but they still have some nice fan videos being uploaded to YouTube for those who seek them out.  I’m a proud fan of less known idols, and if they ever become popular, then there will always be my blog (and playlists on my YouTube channels) for future reference.  I am constantly updating older posts on my blog whenever I discover new information, or if I realize that I made a mistake.  I want everyone who reads my blog to look back on the older posts, and use the information that I have acquired from other fans, or carefully researched myself.  Even if my favorite groups never become popular, I still will listen to their music for years to come.           

  • http://twitter.com/sorkoas gordomari

    This post is inspring. Even if you’re only grasping at straws with some points you bring up you’re able to open my eyes to the actual possibilities within the foreign idol fan community. I think you’re spot on with how the Asian idol popularity keeps growing and the fact we wotas are rather civilized and nice to each other in general.

    I’ve always been someone who has a lot of opinions about my interests that I sometimes have problems with expressing to people and not reaching out to the ones who would enjoy reading and discussing the topics on hand. It was a solid two-three years since I was blogging actively and I miss being able to just express my opinions somewhere they don’t get forgotten fast or simply ignored.

    There has also been some lack of knowledge and capability to express myself in text, especially in English since it’s not my native language and it was very poor when I got into idols. Now however I see myself as much more knowledgeable when it comes to the idol scene and my English has improved immensely.

    I’ll start doing some brainstorming, mainly regarding what I would write about and where. You might receive an e-mail from me eventually with some questions. :-)

    When I think about it a good follow-up to this post would be an actual guide on how to get started with an idol blog and some pointers when it comes topics and how to compose your posts to make them interesting for the readers.

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