Until the 2000s, “power bloggers” were envied. Like a popular YouTuber now. From high-quality information to daily records, everything was known as a “blog.” However, in the 2010s, the growth of video platforms and the perception that there is a lot of advertising content increased, and the heyday of blogs began to end. This is because they are accustomed to obtaining information through video rather than text and tend to prefer short text over long text. However, Naver blogs, which have been popular and slowed down since last year, have rapidly emerged, and more and more people are returning to their dormant blogs. They chose quiet exchanges with their neighbors instead of other Social Networking Services (SNS), which are crowded with connections. Therefore, the Dongguk Post is trying to find out why Naver Blog, represented by writing, has regained popularity while photos and short video content are attracting attention.
Naver Blog, which faltered, rises again
Naver Blog is a blog service that started in 2003 under the name “Paper” and has been in operation until now. In the early days of its launch, it ranked third in blogging services, behind “Blog-in” and “Eglus” in the same industry but has emerged as the largest blog in Korea since 2004. There are various functions to express one’s personality through various fonts, templates, and the insertion of songs and videos. As Naver Blog reached its peak, various information was generated and a popular blog with a strong ripple effect was born. Naver selected blogs that faithfully provided texts, photos, and excellent information as “power blogs” to further boost the service.
However, Naver blogs will be pushed back to SNS that can deliver real-time information such as Twitter and Facebook and quickly communicate in two directions in the 2010s. Some power bloggers pushed for joint purchases without a detailed understanding of the product, causing legal problems or demanding excessive services from companies under the pretext of blog fame. In addition, Naver Blog has been on the decline due to various problems such as flooding of advertising posts.
It seemed to be forgotten in my memory as it was, but the operation was not suspended. This is because the harmful effects of other SNS such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have been revealed. SNS is based on “pride,” so people are starting to focus on what they see. The phenomenon of “likes” and obsession with the number of followers added to the fatigue caused by relationships. As a result, Naver blogs, which are plain and simple, have begun to draw attention. Blogs that record have emerged as an alternative to other SNSs that consumer culture and images that show off their daily lives.
Naver blogs are less tired from relationships because there is no pressure to continue communication while interacting with specific neighbors. In addition, you can combine various fonts and templates, and record in any way you want without limiting the number of letters and photos. This unique personality of Naver Blog led to a revival. According to the “2021 Blog Report” released by Naver, there were about two million newly created blogs, with the total number of blogs exceeding 30 million. The number of blog contents increased by more than 50% compared to 2020 to 300 million. As such, the popularity of Naver blogs has been proven by numbers. The phenomenon of obsession with the number of followers added to the fatigue caused by relationships. As a result, Naver blogs, which are plain and simple, have begun to draw attention. Blogs that record have emerged as an alternative to other SNSs that consume culture and images that show off their daily lives.
The revival of the blog service was limited to Naver’s blogs without expanding to Cyworld and TiStory. At the center of Naver’s limited popularity is Challenge. In May last year, Naver’s blog held the “Today’s Diary” challenge to steadily keep records and share empathy with neighbors. However, contrary to its original purpose, attention was focused only on compensation, and Naver Blog ended the event early due to problems with ID generation and insincere posting to benefit from overlapping products. Since then, he has resumed today’s diary challenge about two weeks later by supplementing his shortcomings.
Using this challenge as a stepping stone, the “Weekly Diary” challenge was held last year. If you post once a week for six months from June, you will be rewarded by throwing up a lottery according to the degree of achievement. Many bloggers participated in receiving compensation at first, but they said it became a habit as they continued to use it, and they fell in love with the charm that reading old posts brought back memories.
MZ Generation Goes Bloggy
Naver blogs are especially enthusiastically supported by the MZ generation. According to the 2021 Blog Report, about 70% of Naver bloggers are MZ generation. Users in their 10s and 20s accounted for 44% of all users, while users in their 30s also accounted for 26%. This is thanks to the well-captured ‘God-Saeng’ craze in the MZ generation. God-Saeng is a newly coined word that combines “God” and “life” and means a life that does its best every day. It reflects the tendency of the MZ generation, which has a high desire for self-realization.
The MZ generation does not hesitate to express themselves. They have always longed for media that can express them very well, and they want moderately distant communication rather than close connections with friends. They began to get tired of SNS being crowded with friends. Therefore, they usually record their daily lives in a diary. It was an attractive factor for the MZ generation that they could record their hard-working daily lives through the challenge and even receive rewards. Another difference is that the barrier to entry is lower than that of video platforms because it is a text-based platforms. Some analysts say that blogs that have been around for nearly 20 years feel “hip” for the MZ generation, who are familiar with the video.
In this situation, what does the revival of blogs mean? The first is the fatigue of ‘advertising.’ The more users on the platform, the more advertising sponsorship will inevitably increase. YouTube also suffered a major setback due to the controversy over “back advertising.” Naver Blog also left users in the 2010s as more advertising posts increased. Recently, however, there have been people who choose blogs again as a means of recording their own daily lives to avoid advertisements.
The desire for “my own space” also led to the revival of the blog. Instead of determining the success or failure of the channel by the number of subscribers and views, they need a space to post their posts without caring about other people’s reactions. In a similar vein, Instagram also provided a function to eliminate “likes.” This is because of the fatigue of the number related to the post.
Finally, there is a need for a platform that can express one's thoughts long. Along with Naver’s blog, Kakao’s content publishing platform “Brunch” is also cruising. It is a creative desire to write one's thoughts and opinions in long writing as well as information that requires expertise. On top of that, as outside activities decreased due to the COVID-19 incident, the radius of living narrowed, more and more people left their thoughts in writing.
There is no guarantee that it will change the minds of people who have been taken away by various SNS. Nevertheless, it was expected to see another event or movement in the future in that it provided an opportunity for those who were tired of “light SNS” to experience the charm of the blog once again. Naver Blog is said to give a “loose sense of solidarity” to young people who want to share their daily lives and maintain a certain distance from others. In the future, Naver Blog will continue to evolve technology to give the MZ generation a new creative experience as a daily essay tool. The blog craze is expected to continue for the time being as the situation of returning to blogs that are “retro” rather than existing SNS unfolds. Why do not you leave a diary on your blog today?
Jung Ji-yeon jiyeon1706@dgu.ac.kr
<저작권자 © 동국포스트, 무단 전재 및 재배포 금지>
