Here goes nothing.
I’m sure that many of you have seen by now the handy dandy guide to making your own {{link http://www.mentaldischarge.com/?section=internet&id=20 Trendy Anime Blog}}. (Mine tends to be much more a trendy manga blog. XD) I read this, and had a good laugh. Hopefully I’m not that trendy. I’ve never professed to be. My design skills are considerably lacking and well… We’ll leave it at that.
This seems to have caused a furore among those of us with trendy anime blogs. However, that doesn’t change the fact that most of it is true. Tiny fonts, illegibility, cramped columns (of which I am guilty, I admit ^^;) details which no one really cares about… it’s all horribly, horribly true.
That article really boils down to one thing: the emphasis on a pretty layout and, consequently, the controlled ignorance of any real content on many of these trendy anime blogs. Too many comments nowadays are simply “OOOOO!!! AAAHHH!!! Nice layout!” Yes, well, that’s nice, and I’m sure the webmaster will thank you, but it’s nice to have comments which show that you’ve read my entry.
This is partly why I haven’t been posting as much as I used to. I’m not going to blog if I have nothing to say. I suppose, of course, that one can ALWAYS find SOMETHING to say, but I’m not much into mindless drivel. Well… not as much.
Of course, free expression part of this as well. Just what is content? Of course, that’s a very subjective matter and it wouldn’t be easy to define. What exactly changes when drivel becomes content? Where is the line drawn? And is there any reason why one shouldn’t be able to make a layout that takes five minutes to load, has about 400 blinkies on it, is presented in 7pt font with 50% line spacing, and has embedded music? No. Of course not. The Internet is a place to express yourself, after all. It’s a matter of awareness and courtesy. The Internet is also where people–including complete strangers–come and see what your site has to offer. And I, personally, don’t want to be deluged by a trite MIDI when I’m listening to the wonderful tunes of Maaya Sakamoto 😀
Even if you disagree with the article, if you have a trendy anime blog (or just an anime blog) I would urge you to take this article seriously. Although its tone is less than diplomatic, it makes valid points.