After a whole week of inactivity to settle my accommodation and air tickets to Lisbon and Los Angeles, I popped into the administration only to find a very strange sight. Two days ago, we hit 1000 posts with Calawain’s entry on Mai Otome. I wanted to steal all the glory from everyone by making this post on the 1000th position, but was ninja-ed.
Sadly, life just does not seem to work that perfectly and I have to do an entry 2 days after the millennium post. Nonetheless, considering I am the oldest blogger here in THAT Anime Blog, it’s time to bring you to a journey on the first millennium of THAT Anime Blog, as we close this world and open the next.
THAT Past
After a day filled with eye-burning staring contests with my computer monitor, the basic setup for THAT Blog is finally finished. We are finally settled down (layout wise) for a good while. We are still getting some writers to sign, but all-in-all, the site is done.
And thus. . we can finally launch, lol. Thank god, I don’t think I can stare at script any longer. XD
I’d like to extend a warm thanks to Maestro from Animeblogger.net for providing us with this wonderful opportunity to host a customized wordpress blog on the Animeblogger.net site. We hope to go from our small beginnings and thrive into an active anime blog akin to the many giants in the wired today.
So without furtherado…
-Mr. Admin
THAT Anime Blog is born through a random YIM chat on July 27th 2006. I did not expect anything since it’s simply idle talk. I mean, who expects anything to miraculously happen after some random chat about anime blogs? Thirteen days later, everything is set up by Mr Admin. It is on August 10th, 2006 that THAT Anime Blog is born into the infant anime blogosphere. Honestly, I still miss Mr Admin or Dandan who is the true founder of this blog. Without his resourceful endeavors to find a kind host like animeblogger.net, I will never make the effort to have such an anime blog.
We did not really have a direction for the blog and traffic is found wanting. I still remember that there are a ton of huge anime blogs out there. We are just one of the many small blogs, struggling to even get 10 visitors a day. I tried to ask some prominent anime blogs for a blog link but I was given the cold shoulder more often than not. It is painful for an upstart, but I simply shrugged it off as real life elitism manifesting in real life. We just have to depend on ourselves to survive.
For many, anime blogging is simply an interest. However, for me, I want to share it to as many people as I possibly could. I want many people to come in, comment and share ideas/thoughts/beliefs with me. I thought of ways to do it and arrived with verbal diarrhoea in blogging as an answer. I blog like a total lunatic, posting more than three times per day.
THAT Progress
I also remember the euphoria when we finally hit 1000 pageviews on sitemeter. It is almost like insane celebration from me, Alkanphel and Jooo because it represents a milestone for the blog. We went batshit insane when Ghost Hunt entries become extremely popular. It’s quite ironic that the blog currently receives around 4500-5000 visitors per day and I am not even half bothered. It’s not that it’s nothing, but I guess I prefer comments now. My excitement is the greatest during the early days of blogging. I will be lying if I say that my passion is still as strong when I first started, but I guess a bit of maturity (read: laziness/drained out) sat in.
It is around November or December 2006 that I started recruiting people. I decide that I want to make this blog as popular as I can, and the only way is to increase the activity of posts in the blog. I know that I need to find people who write differently from me. In other words, I am trying my best to create different viewpoints in the blog for an “aggregator” of sorts. Stumbling here and creating new ideas, we continue to find a direction for the blog. I do not know whether we do have a concrete goal to achieve, but THAT probably fits in the vision of how I want it to be: An aggregator of various thoughts, themes and ideas that are uncontrolled and unrestricted by anyone.
THAT Now
Today, the stats read as such.
There are currently 1,003 posts and 16,768 comments, contained within 92 categories.
It’s insane. No one, including me, expected the blog to be that popular. Many anime blogs out there hardly receive any comments (or even views) for their entries, and I really thank everyone for loving THAT Anime Blog to bother leaving an entry. After 1000 posts, I take away some important lessons.
- Appreciate every single commentator – Some of my authors do not agree with me, but I appreciate every single commentator that is legitimate. Whether they are simply saying “Thank you for blogging”, flaming me, trolling or writing a verbose discussion about humanity, they are all loved. Some bloggers are dismissive of stupid comments by random visitors, but I appreciate them. There are too many of you to mention individually, but I will say this. You guys, compared to the other 99% of visitors, bothered to leave a mark in this space.
- Getting used to people leaving – Crusader stayed. Calawain stayed. Extrange stayed. Lupus stayed. Many left. It’s really hard sometimes that people leave after a few entries but that is the reality of recruiting total strangers. I realize not to feel so heartbroken when a blogger suddenly disappears. They have their lives, I have mine. Sometimes, it’s better to let go.
- Never ignore requests – As I have been rejected by prominent anime bloggers for blogrolls, I never reject anyone unless it’s clearly a spam site. I do not believe in selection of qualities because everyone has a right to ask. I make sure I always reply to emails (check our contact form). There is no place for elitism here. No, never and never will be.
- Giving advice for starting – We are probably one of the few anime blogs that have written more than two entries about how to start up. They included advice on “entries to write during burn out“, “predicting a good anime“, “the dilemma of an anime reviewer“, the background story of anime blogging“, “brainstorming ideas for topics to write“, “chronological time line of anime blogging” and “how to get viewers to your blog“. I believe that the joys of anime blogging far outweigh the troubles. That is why I am still writing.
I definitely did not expect myself to write such a long entry. I guess it’s just realizing how long we have moved since our humble beginnings. Thank you once again for making THAT a place that is loved, hated or simply there.
It’s you, the visitors, who brought us where we are.
30 Comments
tl;dr
First comment.
What do I win?
ps. In before DrmChsr0 asking for cock.
ps2. In before DESU
ps3. In before Owen S trolling.
ps4. Ignis is a lie.
Cock.
2GET
also, DESU DESU DESU
I have to say that my stay is, at this point, comparable to the Queen of England’s power to rule her subject.
Hopefully I’ll find something good again that will spark my drive to write.
Thank you for not blogging!
Seriously though, 1000 is a great milestone. Congratulations.
I’m still here
^^ nice. Keep it up, Impz & Team~
Congrats. Considering that I’m only a tenth of the way there makes getting 1000 posts seem daunting for me.
Your welcome =P and congratulations.
Oh, you add anyone to your blogroll. ADD ME.
I’m still waiting for an anime blog to reach 9,001 posts… or has it been achieved already?
Interesting entry, congratulations on your milestone and here’s to much more from THAT in the future *raises imaginary glass*.
Congrats! Reaching 1000 posts is indeed quite an achievement. Keep up the good work! =)
Congratulations!
1000 posts is a great achievement..
And most of the posts here are good ones..
So, nice job..
By the way, Anime Banzai! is nearing the 1000 posts mark too..
^_^
Go, Impz, go!
Seriously, this is a great achievment, let’s aim to 5000 now. I am glad I was able to join THAT team and be a part of this blog community, sharing my views and comments .
I didn’t even realize I had made the 1,000th post until like the next day Impz mentioned it to me on YIM. Shows how much I pay attention to this stuff, what a responsible admin I am.
And yes, I really do agree with Impz that we appreciate everyone that visits, especially those that comment. Although looking at the pageview stats it seems my posts get a high level of views but less comments then most. Maybe they just all like to stare at Shinra service shots, for which I really don’t blame them.
Haha I added you right away when you asked =P (or was that on IRC somehow? lol)
I haven’t reached 1000 posts o_o Then again I don’t have like 10 people blogging for me xD
Wow you get so many visits a day! That’s cool!
Hey, did you know that your blog comes up first on Google for the search term “Anime Blog” ?
Now THAT’s awesome.
@Eric
That is pretty funny, and it’s not like we use tricks to get massive traffic or anything so I guess we are just well-linked or something. Impz knows the science of this stuff, not me. Search engine traffic doesn’t usually translate into comments though, unless it’s Saimono….
Haha, what a nice pun Eric
Good job on reaching 1,000. Nice points too.
Congrats to T.H.A.T.’s authors, past and present – it’s great to see hard work rewarded (enjoy your holiday Impz…you’ve earned it!). Here’s to the next 1000 posts! ^_^
Geeeeettttttttttt~
Congrats THAT animebloggers,
This means more the anime industry and the brand awareness will increase thanks to your feedback and great community. Anime will sure be a while in the market, meaning; what you started as great experience and while growing, everyone will accomplish great goals and objectives as you did today.
@Sage: Nothing, sadly. Except e-penor for fun.
@Drm: Roosters are left.
@Lupus: Queen of England is never meant to rule. She simply has influence and charm. =/
@Owen S: You said something nice. I gonna buy LOTTO now.
@Igunis: I know and you better come online so I can delegate work! WAHAHAHA X_X
@Akai: ~_~ weeeeeeeeeeee~ We will ^+^
@TheBigN: Yep, I cannot imagine how I actually wrote close to 600 posts in 1.5 years.
@Icystorm: Oh, ok, give me an email so that it’s easier for me =/
@Iknight: Interesting only ?
sob. I want something like amazingly cute…never min..d.
@Hazy: Good work.. I will relay the message to my co-bloggers. They are amazed because I always tell them we suck X_X
@Setsukyie: YAY to anime banzai ^+^
@Extrange: Of course you are. Now, many more people can see your metrosexual side >3
@Calawain: To be honest, me neither. I was actually checking whether there are any upcoming posts to schedule my Saimono post when I realize that it is about time. You do know the acclaimed logic of “Fap first, worry later?”. Probably the case here that they are too engrossed doing something else. Err…ahmm
@Hinano: yep, you did! It is depressing how some rejected it or simply ignored me though. It isn’t too cool X_X. Yes, I still remember them a hell lot.
@Eric: Ya, i know. That is one thing I am truly proud of, considering how our anime blog appears first on google! It’s not really that many visits to be honest, compared to the truly huge anime blogs. Nevertheless, it’s a decent amount ^^
@Super rats: yay! Nice points? Not nice cruizer?
@Martin: hopefully if i survive til then. I might die of old age from blogging. The life of a blogger does not last too long huh ^^
*waves* I’m still around. Sort of.
CONGRATS you rabid bloggers.
w00t! cheers for a thousand posts!
you may be more of a trap than GAR impz, but this is undeniable EPIC xD
It took you guys about one year and a half(?) to hit the 1000th post mark, but at the rate you guys are growing and posting, it might take a much shorter time than that to hit your 2000th post. And hopefully, most of us would still be around to celebrate it. I know I would love to stick around until then
CONGRATULATIONS! 1000 is a big milestone, indeed, especially when achieved in under 2 years.
More power to you and your team!
cheers!
….1000 entrys O.o that is insane XD *must go count if this is actually true*
Congrats- I hope one day that peeps will make a big deal out of the 10th year of survival ^^”
wow- your stats are unbelievable. Congratulations on 1000 entries : )
What else is there for me to say other than “Omedetou”? This is one of the few recreational sites I visit more than once a week. Considering the fact that I don’t have free time or a good amount of it anymore, this is a big deal. So, yeah, I look forward to post 2,000 and many more.