Monday, September 15, 2003

my take on myOtaku's purpose

At first when myOtaku came out I was like, why do I need this? (Of course I signed up for it along with the masses because ... well, just because, but I was a little skeptical about ever using it.) Anyway, like others, I have my own personal blog (though unlike others, I've never linked to it from any OB or otaku-related venue because it has a lot of personal info). So I wasn't sure of what another blog would do for me.

I've realized that this myOtaku blog has come in pretty useful for me, particularly since I've been keeping my otaku life and my "real" life so separate. For one thing, I can post otaku-related thoughts (the long rant on RPG's, etc.) on here, where if I posted them on my personal blog people would be very, very confused. (Obviously most of my friends don't go to forums, nor are they very interested in anime.) For another thing, I can now use this as a completely anonymous way to vent about the friends who might read my personal blog but will never find their way here, or even if they did, probably wouldn't realize it was me. ... Though I guess the Real Name and Birthday things might tip them off. It's still much safer.

I'm not sure, though, why I really have been keeping the "otaku" and "real" parts of my life so separate. (By "otaku" I'm just referring to my involvement on the boards, at-least-supposed future involvement with theOtaku.com, and interest in anime in general.) My friends definitely know I spend a lot of time watching anime, and my boyfriend is well aware I read in "a forum" a great deal, I guess I just think they wouldn't really understand the amount of my involvement (which really isn't that much to begin with). As for why I don't show any "otaku" people my personal website ... that I have no reason for :-P. There are pictures of me, but I'm not self-conscious or anything ...

Back to the original premise of the post ... the other nice thing about myOtaku is that sometimes people actually comment extensively. I've never taken the time to add a commenting system to my personal blog, and even if I did, I don't know how much my friends would comment because they either already know about everything I've posted, or will just say something to me when they see me. myOtaku can make a nice little sense of community from comments and guestbook entries, especially combined with OB.
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