I have never been drawn to blogs of any type nor interested in seeking one out until now. Whenever the topic of blogs was mentioned, it never was something I cared to discuss more or look further into. However, since having to start a blog myself, I want a better understanding of how blogs may look and catch interest from a reader's perspective. So, I looked into various blogs and can now say I am very interested in this type of format and want to delve deeper into the different ones out there. Some of the blogs I looked into included one about skills for productivity and management, a review blog about gaming, and a more personal blog about lifestyle and health topics. (Some varying topics, haha)
The life skills blog I found provides various life hacks for busy people who want to be more efficient and achieve a more fulfilling life while also being productive. This blog intrigued me because I am a big fan of ways to improve my life, whether it's by finding new motivations or adding new things to my routine to better myself. I quite liked this blog because it's simple but at the same time very detailed. It didn't throw a lot at me when I first went to the site but provided detailed titles and summaries for each topic it wanted to present. One thing I appreciated about this blog is it gives a start here section that provides life hacks about various things like focus, motivation, and even learning.
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| Lifehack Blogs Start Here section |
The blog allows you to scroll downwards to view various overall topics like the purpose, relevant life hacks as of 2022, and an introduction for all the experts who have written an entry with links to what they wrote. Each topic's summary was straight to the point but also engaging and hooked me by relating to everyday life or asking an enticing question. The titles were also simple but gave the exact information, and made me want to click on them. However, as much as I like this blog, it also had things I was not a big fan of.
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| Lifehack Blogs Best of 2022 section |
Its format was nice because it didn't overgeneralize or give way too much information but how it was set up was a little hard to understand at first. This was due to it not having everything close together. Instead, you had to scroll down to find various information, but it didn't give a way to jump back to previous sections on the first page. In total, the first page has six sections for each overall topic, but with no way to jump back to the first topic, you would have to scroll back up, which is a little inefficient.
Moving on to the second blog I read, Wolfs Gaming Blog, a review blog about video games on various platforms, including Xbox, PlayStation, PC, and VR, as well as technical topics. Personally, I am a huge video game fan, so I was intrigued by what this blog had to offer. However, I was very intimidated when I first went to its site. The overall format was simple, but it provided a lot of images and contrasting colors, which made a lot stick out at once. Due to this, I decided to check out his about me page first to learn more about the author and the content they were writing.
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| Wolfs Gaming Blog front page |
His about me page was very interesting to read because of how he writes. He refers to events in his life in a very specific way. For example, when he talked about when he was born, instead of saying I was born in this year and so on, he says “I was summoned into this pitiful mortal realm in 1991 and raised by marauding wolves.” Another thing I noticed is he refers to himself as “Wolf” and refers to his parents as wolves as well. For example, in paragraph four he talks about the first platform he got to play games on, which was thanks to his dad. He says, “my four-legged father was big on technology and so we had computers fairly early on.” I found this very interesting, and I am confused why he decided to refer to things this way. (Ronie, Baden. "About." Wolfs Gaming Blog.)
Moving back to the first page, you will see a banner that showcases recent or popular game entries (Shown in the image above). Underneath this banner showcases each entry one after the other starting with the most recent ones, in this case being a review on a game called Serial Cleaners (I can't say I've heard of this before). While I scrolled through the various entry titles, it was apparent that Wolf reviews games he likes, not just popular ones. I like that he does this because I could use some new content to play, and it is a good way to entice any reader.
While I was scrolling through the various entries, an image from the game Nobody Saves the World caught my eye, so I decided to read this one. How he has each entry set up is easy to follow and understand. He provides the game's description, what platforms it's available on, and various images showcasing gameplay. I found this blog interesting, but it has a lot of information compiled closely together which made it hard to understand what was going on and therefore didn't catch my attention as much as the last blog I want to talk about had.
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| Nobody Saves the World Review – Saving the World is a Good Time review page |
Finally, I want to talk about a more personal blog called “Lee From America.” The writer, Lee, discusses various topics she is interested in or has connections to, including ones about lifestyle, music, health, recipes, traveling, and products. I must say this blog surprised me the most. You see, at first, I wasn't very interested, but after exploring it and reading various entries, I found I was quite invested in its contents. While it is a more personal blog, I felt drawn to the cozy vibe its style presented. The images she uses further expand on this more personal feel because she uses pictures from her life instead of random images on Google. However, she doesn't let them draw away from the entries, which she does by using pictures that relate to the topic she is writing about. A good example of this is her post about Japan, where she showcases pictures from her trip to further explain the tips she is giving to anyone who might be interested in visiting Japan someday. In this same post, she makes use of various links to give the reader a more in-depth explanation of the different things she's talking about. However, her purpose is what intrigued me the most.
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| Lee From America blogs front page |
The purpose in her entries is to share things she has learned about and share topics she is either interested in or believes others would benefit from knowing. She writes casually but provides enough information so anyone would understand what she is discussing in her posts. A good example is her post titled Updated Skincare Regime - Fall 2016. In this, she talks about her new skincare routine. I wouldn't have known she had written about this topic prior if she had not stated or provided a link to the original post.
Overall, her entire style is comforting. Even though there are many entries compiled on one page, I didn't feel overwhelmed because she gives enough detail with images and titles to entice me to click the links to get a better understanding of what the entry is about. It's a beautiful blog that talks about an array of different things, some I haven't even thought about before. After exploring her page, I have found I am interested in her stories and the information she wants to share.
After reading these blogs, among many others, I noticed that while some blogs could make various formats work others could not. However, I enjoyed reading them and looking into various types. I could see myself exploring more blogs and potentially following a couple closely like Lee From America. I found reading blog entries very intriguing, and I encourage you to look more into blogs yourself if you haven't yet and find some that interest you or keep you coming back! Let me know of some blogs that you enjoy, or have found interesting in the comments. Since I'm both new to reading blogs and writing one, I would love some suggestions! :)
