Since I got into anime in the early 2000s when the Internet culture was just taking off, I can’t comment on how fans stayed up-to-date with anime and connected with each other in the years before then. But it’s very obvious that the medium and its fandom would not be as universally accessible as it is today without the Internet. Thanks to the World Wide Web we can now converse with and share things with fellow fans from all over the world, any time, anywhere, as well as stay up to date on all the latest happenings of the anime world. So for today’s topic, I want to discuss my personal routine for staying connected with the anime community and see how other people’s routines differ…
Though some things about it have changed over time due to Internet technological advances or my own preference changes, my basic routine for staying connected with the anime community has more or less been the same for many years. When I first get up in the morning (after doing a couple of things like washing my face and getting dressed), I sit down in front of the computer with my morning glass of iced tea and spend about 15 minutes doing the following:
1) Check email.
2) Check blog comments (delete spam comments and approve good comments).
3) Check Twitter to see the tweets I missed while I was asleep. I should probably say here that I follow very few people on Twitter compared to others – less than 40. I know some people follow hundreds of people, thousands maybe, but that’s just too overwhelming for me. I follow people on Twitter because I’m interested in the kinds of tweets they have. I actually want to read all of their tweets, and unless you’re able to check Twitter every few minutes, there’s no way you can do that if there’s hundreds of people you’re following. I have trouble catching everyone’s tweets with the relatively few people I follow, so it would be impossible for me to give everyone adequate attention if I was following hundreds of people XD But with a few exceptions, pretty much everyone I follow on Twitter is related to anime somehow, either it’s a Twitter for an anime-related web site or company, or a fellow anime blogger or friend.
4) Check Facebook. While I use Twitter for my “anime side,” I use Facebook for “real life” stuff and for the other things I’m interested in besides anime (though I do follow some anime-related Facebook pages). It makes a good balance that way actually.
5) Check my favorite web sites for news/updates. I’ve bookmarked hundreds of anime and other sites over the years, but there’s only a handful I check everyday for updates. Obviously these choice sites of mine have changed over time as I discover new ones and old ones become defunct or no longer interest me. But here’s my current list of sites I visit once a day for anything new:
– MyAnimeList.net: I just give it a quick refresh to see what my friends are watching and if there’s any interesting news. After I watch my daily dose of anime before bed, I visit MAL again and update my list.
– AnimeNewsNetwork: Scroll through all the news headlines and column pages and read any that catch my attention.
– Serebii.net, Bulbapedia, Dogasu’s Backpack, and PokeBeach: Get everything Pokemon-related, news or otherwise, from these sites.
– Equestria Daily: Get my daily My Little Pony fix here.
– The Quote Garden: Not anime-related, but I’ve been looking at their “Quote of the Day” for so many years I can’t stop now XD
– AnimeSuki: I pretty much just check the forums I follow to see any new posts. Since I mostly follow Haruhi-related ones, obviously they’ve been pretty empty lately.
– Tokyo Toshokan: Check to see the new anime fansub, music, raws, or other files I may want to download later.
– AnimeNation: They’re an online store that’s been around a long time, but I mostly visit them for the news and Ask John column on their blog.
– Anime Nano: I skim through the listing of new blog posts I haven’t yet seen. If any interest me I’ll either read them right there or put them aside to read later.
Perhaps I’m kinda behind the times as I don’t use RSS or IRC…I hardly ever visit forums either. But I do make good use of Firefox tabs to keep track of everything. There’s a handful of sites such as my email and blog dashboard that I always have open in tabs, and other sites occasionally depending on what’s going on. For example, since I’ve been really into Pokemon XY, Serebii.net and other Pokemon sites have been open in my tabs for several weeks now. The site that I’ve been using as a study guide for the JLPT has also been open for about a month. And as I said before, any interesting things I find online and want to read but don’t have time to at the moment, such as a blog post on Anime Nano or some link I find on Twitter or Facebook, I’ll simply leave it open in a new tab so I remember to read it later when I have time. Sometimes it’ll be later that day, or I might not get to it until a few days later. I get annoyed when I have too many tabs open though, so I tend to get to them all eventually. Additionally, I try to be diligent about replying to people on Twitter, Facebook, or wherever if I feel what they said warrants a reply. If I can’t respond at that moment, I’ll again leave a tab open with their message so I won’t forget (same thing with my email).
It’s only been about a year and a half since I’ve been able to have Internet on the go after getting my first smartphone in July of 2012. Of course it’s been very helpful for staying connected with the fandom and getting all the latest anime updates. Before I had Internet on my phone, once I would finish my 15 minute morning check up on my important sites, I would be away at school or work all day and not be able to check Twitter, Facebook, etc., until hours later. I’d often miss important anime news or tweets and have to take time later to catch up on them all. But now I’m able to check my tweets, email, etc., about three times a day during my breaks at work, though I prefer to do anything that involves excess typing on my home computer since typing on the phone is a pain. Some of my favorite sites have their own apps too. Using pixiv’s app, I’m able to check all the latest fan art and bookmark ones I like, and I’m kept up to date with the current Internet memes on the app for the highly entertaining 9GAG. And of course, on my days off I’m able to check Twitter, blog comments, etc., much more often.
To sum it up, my main outlets for staying up to date with and connected to the anime community are Twitter, my blog along with Anime Nano, and checking certain sites once a day. Compared to what other anime fans do, it seems like a very “humble” and “simple” way. But it works for me – it’s good enough in that I never feel like I’m being “left out” with the current happenings of the fandom, but at the same time limiting the number of people I follow on Twitter and the number of sites I frequent to just a handful of favorites makes it so I don’t get overwhelmed and end up having so many web outlets I’m involved in that I can’t give ample attention to them all. I’m sure as the times change and Internet technology, as well as the anime medium itself, continues to change, my online means of staying connected to it will change as well. But this is how I do things now and so far it fits my lifestyle fine =)
So how do you use the Internet to stay up to date with all the latest anime news and connect with the fandom? Twitter? Facebook? RSS? Forums? Bookmarking sites and checking them everyday? I’d like to know~
You mislabeled 4 and 5. Stop rushing things =p
Anyways, I keep track of things as such:
1) Twitter. Well, for the most part. I’ve been trying to not use it too much nowadays, but it’s good to keep track of things. For example, apparently “something” happened in Samurai Flamenco. Whatever that something was, people I follow freaked out. Good thing is I didn’t see any spoilers. But it was hugely entertaining.
2) At least twice a week I check my blogroll, then on Sunday I give a look at every blog I’m following/stalking for links on Monday.
3) I also stalk forums.
That’s about how I keep up with the community.
P.S: You should totally be a hero and go the RSS route. Go do that!
Ah, I did indeed. Fixed it :3
Yeah, there’s always that fear of spoilers with Twitter. But it’s not a big problem for me since most of the people I follow aren’t big on spoiling things just by a quick glance at their tweets.
If AnimeNano ever goes down for good, I may have to switch to RSS.
Hum… I actually do not check on a lot of anime related news. I check your blog, and every month or so I check what’s coming up for the next anime season… I may check some info on the anime I’m watching if I need more details (regular wiki site usually has what I need). Hum… That’s about it. I have twitter, but never use it, and facebook I use it like you do, only for family and real life friends… So your blog is pretty much it I guess. It is enough for me though, your blog is interesting and fun, so don’t feel the need to look for forums or other places I guess.
As always, glad to know you enjoy my blog so much ^_^
Well, I guess staying away from the online community has its advantages too – you don’t have to deal with ignorant, elitist, obnoxious, or other types of fans. I don’t let them bother me though and only follow/pay attention to the bloggers and other fans I like and respect. You can also more easily avoid spoilers without Twitter and such too.
I wouldn’t mind being friends on Facebook with you. You are one of my most loyal visitors after all =D
While I do check gaming news, I used to participate frequently on forums. Of course, I used to participate on AnimeSuki a lot, but I don’t post that much anymore since I’m now committing more time in blogging rather than writing forum posts.
Aside from that, everything is routine. I usually reply to new comments, comment on other blogs and participate on Twitter. I used to subscribe to blogs, but Google decided to pull the plug on Google Reader, so I have been relying on AnimeNano which goes down quite often to look for new posts.
Besides the Haruhi forums on AnimeSuki, the only other forums I participate in are the Serebii.net ones…but usually only when a new game is out and I need help with something. Once in a while I’ll post on MAL or ANN but haven’t done so in a long time.
I’ve never used Google Reader actually…but guess it doesn’t matter now that it’s gone ~_^ And why does AnimeNano go down so much?
Probably because of server problems… but hopefully one of these days, I’ll find some RSS reader that will sync on multiple devices.
I actually subscribe to your site and a few others via RSS, so that’s one way for me. RSS is really useful! You should consider giving it a go sometimes, it saves you having to visit every site to look for updates. I also use Anime-Planet (which is kind of like MAL) periodically to update what I’m watching, what I’ve watched and what I should watch next. A couple of my friends who also like anime are on AP too, mostly cos I dragged them onto it lol.
Other than that, there’s not really anything else I do. I’m not very involved in the anime community at all, haha. Unfortunately, getting more involved would require more time than I currently have, and I have to carefully prioritise my time nowadays. :( I’m lucky enough to have several close school friends who also turned out to watch craploads of anime like me, so we usually just talk on MSN if there’s something we recently watched that was discussion-worthy. And by ‘discussion’ it’s basically either ranting about our feels or bitching about how crap it is. It’s surprisingly therapeutic!
I’ll probably have to get into RSS at some point, especially if anything happens to Anime Nano. Does RSS work for any kind of site for just blogs with RSS feeds?
I also have some online as well as RL friends I talk to on Instant Messaging. I don’t do it as much as I used to though due to lack of time, but it is a nice way to have more personal anime conversations with friends from time to time ;) I still have some friends I email once in a while too, as well as friends who prefer to converse on Twitter or Facebook.
I’m not sure, but I have yet to find a blog that doesn’t have an RSS feed!
It’s time for my “randomly visit a Cool Neighbor and post comments like crazy” moments I do every now and then and this time, I choose this site.
What I wrote above should give you an idea of how I keep up with the community.
-Twitter is evil so I have yet to create an account. I at least use FB.
-I randomly pick sites to visit and see what people are talking about. Either that or I look up the “Blogs I Follow” list.
-I occasionally visit Nippon Ichi Studios Forums and see what the hizzle is.
-I Google stuff.
-I frequently visit Dynasty Scans for manga updates, Siliconera and Eventhubs for gaming fixes and SGCafe for some random anime stuff.
-I don’t use ANN or Animenano much.
I was surprised to suddenly refresh my comments and see a bunch from you XD Pleasantly surprised though, LOL.
If the 140 word limit is why you think Twitter is evil, it’s not as hard as you think to get everything you need to say down to that amount XD Just takes getting used to.
Heh, I think we all “Google stuff” a lot. Though I don’t really google anime stuff as much as other things I need help with…like directions via Google Maps.
No. Twitter is full of people who post mundane things. I already do that on Facebook.
I’m not particularly interested in the anime “community” as such. Yours is the only blog I really follow. I follow reviews and news forums on ANN (not the general forums) and visit /a/ several times a day. I post on ANN, /a/ and chat to a few of my friends who watch anime.
When I turn my computer on, I check my twenty thousand bookmarked manga scanlations for new chapters, as well as various forums. I then check every new article on ANN and read the ones that are interesting to me. I use the site Shana Project to send me new anime torrents. It’s quite handy, and very easy to set up. Plus, for shows that get a new episode translated rarely (like Mahou no Star Magical Emi or many old series currently being translated by groups like Licca and KiteSeekers) it takes all the hassle out of following them. I also read reviews on Crymore, which is a good site to read fansub reviews and other occasional entertaining content.
I use Twitter to follow Trigger_Tattun. I follow a bunch of English anime companies on Facebook (Sentai’s page is easily the best) as well as the page for my local anime convention, Manifest. I also belong to my uni’s anime club page (it’s remarkably less awful than most anime clubs I hear about).
Updating MAL every day seems like a pain; I just update it every time I finish a series. I suppose if I used it more socially I could see the benefit in updating each episode watched so people could talk to me about it, or something like that.
So yeah, mostly I just read things or use them as resources. I really only interact through ANN’s talkback threads, /a/ and with friends, plus your lovely site.
I’m flattered that I’m the only blog you’re interested in following ~^_^~ I’ve never been on /a/, or 4chan for that matter…don’t think I ever will, LOL.
Good to know you have a nice anime club at your university. The one at my university was great too. I miss it~
Never heard of Shana Project. Sounds interesting. And for MAL, it’s not a pain to update it since I always have it open in my FireFox tabs. After I have my routine anime viewing before bed, I’ll just take a few seconds to update the episodes I watched. If I didn’t do that I would lose track of what episode I’m on for certain series, like One Piece.
I’m not much on socializing with a “community” with anime. The only place I go to comment and get feedback on is right here on your blog. And actually your site(the main site) was probably the first anime site I consistently went back to when I came upon it back in 2003-2004 ish. I was really getting into Inuyasha at that time and you had some info about ^_^!
As far as news and such, I kind of rely on Twitter and ANN (sometimes) but really I don’t follow much anime as its being made or dubbed. The only news I actively follow when it comes to games and shows are Pokemon (through Bulbapedia) Kingdom Hearts and currently Legend of Korra. Actually when I want to see what anime has come out I go to TV Tropes as they have pages of it by season. MAL (which I barely got into this summer I only occasionally visit and update after I’ve watched a series). And of course Facebook for “real life” stuff though I very rarely post on my Facebook either. My wife on the other hand (who is a more avid manga read) constantly checks and comments on forums and manga news sites.
I didn’t know you were an old visitor to my fan site XD I’m glad you enjoyed it. My Inuyasha section did end up being the most popular. During the years the series aired on Adult Swim I was constantly getting email from people about it, LOL.
I use TV Tropes sometimes too, but mostly as something to read when I’m bored XD And Bulbapedia is a major asset for any Pokemon fan :3
Also flattered to know that my blog is one of the main anime sites you visit ~^^~
I loved your site! Even though its not updated much anymore I still like to visit it for nostalgia purposes =P I even recall a time I was able to get a track to an anime(.hack//Legend of the Twilight Bracelet) from you back when it was airing.
I post occasionally on NeoGAF’s AnimeGAF. It’s a bit of a free for all since it allows discussion going on basically unfiltered about everything, hardly the same sense of organization that a forum allows, but in that chaos comes a much more general understanding of a lot of things. Though I only go there when I’ve watched a complete series.
I used to be a regular on AnimeSuki, but I stopped posting when I found the environment to be not to my liking. Otherwise, I check out a few blogs in the English anime sphere, a lot more in the Japanese sphere, but mostly I like to surf around pixiv.
Yeah, besides posting on the Haruhi-related forums on AS, the only other forums there I would visit were for Saimoe. If I didn’t have my blog I would probably use forums a lot more as my opinion outlet =P
I surf around on the Daily rankings for pixiv every now and then to bookmark new images I like or save them for possible blog posts. I’ve found their phone app very helpful =)
I use mostly email and WordPress to keep up with what’s going on in the anime community. I have a LiveJournal blog as well, but mostly that’s only for personal stuff and so every post is friends-locked – although from time to time some interesting things get posted up on some of the communities I frequent there. Likewise, my Facebook is strictly for personal use, but I update my Twitter whenever I post a new WordPress entry, and check the Twitter accounts I’m following on a semi-regular basis. Like you, I don’t usually visit any forums, but I have a few websites I check and/or update regularly, including both MyAnimeList and AnimeNation. Needless to say, I watch anime daily when I can, a mix of both new and older shows to keep things balanced out. :)
Before Twitter and Facebook, I used to use email a lot for conversing with people and for feedback for my site. Nowadays it’s easier to converse with the majority of my RL friends through FB, IM, and Twitter, so email is mostly reserved for a few certain friends or business matters. I still get emails from fans/visitors of my site from time to time, but not as much as I did in the years of my old fan site, before Twitter and blog commenting.
Nice to know someone else who visits AnimeNation =D
If your way is “humble and simple,” then my way is reclusive and minimal. I intentionally do not have a Twitter or Facebook account. I dislike RSS. There are three blogs I check once or maybe twice a week, and about eight more I check every one or two weeks or so (sorry you’re in this group… I just don’t have the time to monitor more frequently). There are roughly 20 more blogs in my bookmarks that I almost never check in on. I do read ANN every one or two days. Sporadically I’ll look at the forums at MAL, depending on my spare time and my mood. That’s about it. I guess you could say that I’m not really connected to the anime community. That’s OK. I’m watching plenty of new shows each season, and that’s good enough for me.
Nice Kōko Kaga picture! (You always find the best art!)
I’m glad to know my blog is one you check regularly ^_^ (doesn’t matter if it’s just once or twice a week since I only post once a week anyway). Besides Anime Nano, I also have my bunch of blogs (most of them are on my blogroll) that I check regularly (yours is one of them, since you post a lot. Though I admit that I mostly read your anime-related posts only ^^,,,) and some that I check only once in a while when I remember.
I know a small few people who refuse to get on either Twitter or Facebook, but basically everyone I know uses both or one or the other.
Glad you like the Golden Time pic :3
Probably my two biggest sources of anime news is Facebook and a couple of blogs (including yours of course). I admin and also have a page of my own on Facebook that’s anime related so I chat with the people who like my page about whatever anime I’m currently watching or which series I should watch.
Blogs like yours and TheOtakuSpot are the ones I primarily follow, and bloggers such as yourself help keep me fairly up-to-date on current anime, as well as being entertaining in general =)
I loosely follow Twitter, my newsfeed is kind of random but I do follow a few people who post anime news occasionally, it’s hardly my primary source though since I follow a variety of people XD
It’s funny how some people use Facebook like you do – for getting news and socializing about their hobbies, while others use it strictly for communication with friends and family in real life. Either way works fine of course ;) Due to being part of the anime blogging community, Twitter works better for me in terms of the former.
Also, thank you for the compliments on my blog ^_^ I’m glad I’m one of the few you choose to follow.
I sometimes check out a few other blogs such as GoBoiano, Neon Shonen Fujoshi, and Empty Blue but that’s kinda rare XD your welcome though!
Yeah I primarily use facebook to keep track of anime and video game news, as well as to socialize with people in both fandoms. My personal account is…annoying to say the least, so I rarely use it.
I also rarely go to forums nowadays. There a few new forums that attracted me enough to join it, but my activity is akin to a ghost :p
Ironically, animesuki so far had the most active LN discussions (even though it’s not LN specified) so I usually check out some LN discussions for titles I already read.
And indeed, portable devices like smartphones and tablets Really great for on the go purposes. In fact, quite a lot of my blog posts were written on my phone, lol. It’s not quite fun though, when I’m doing some things on my phone, while suddenly an obligatory work call came out of nowhere. I’m looking into buying tablets for full entertainment use, I’m looking into the new Ipad air.
If I had a more advanced smartphone and some kind of keyboard attachment, I would maybe blog via phone. But as of now I can’t imagine blogging on my little phone with its tiny keyboard XD I only write lengthy things on the phone if I have to…otherwise I wait till I get home and use the desktop computer.
I have yet to get a tablet or Ipad…one day perhaps.