20 Years of Blogging: The Blogs That Disappear and the Note That Continues

The goo blog I started using in 2005 will be discontinued on November 18, 2025.

I wrote about my blogging history of over 20 years and the note I am still continuing today.

My first blog: 'Shimomayu's Photo Diary'

The first blog I created in January 2005 was "Shimomayu's Photo Diary".

As someone who was already into photography, I started this blog because I didn't want to forget the feeling of holding a camera.

Back then, I was using a feature phone. It was made by Panasonic, which was said to have good camera performance.

The appeal was how easy it was to post to the blog just by attaching a photo and sending an email.

I was a company employee at the time. Even though I wasn't a celebrity, naming it "Shimomayu's Photo Diary" was a terrible way to name a blog 💦

(I'll let it slide now since I'm recognized as 'Shimomayu')

What I realized after starting this blog was that I really love to eat. I think over 80% of the posts were about food.

The blog mainly focused on the happy feelings I got from eating delicious food and articles about cute characters like Rilakkuma.

Why I chose goo blog

I considered a few blogs, but the deciding factor was that it had a template I liked.

I also wrote about the reason I started a goo blog here ↓

The real reason I wanted to blog

At my parents' home in Yamaguchi, we have kept budgies since I was in elementary school.

I thought I could share photos of the budgies by posting jointly with my younger sister who lives at my parents' home.

The blog where I post photos of our successive generations of budgies is here ↓

I started out by writing pet blogs and food-centered diary blogs.

How I started Ameblo

There was a time when the magazine "Nikkei PC," which my company subscribed to, featured a special on Ameblo.

This was about a year after Ameblo started its service in 2004.

When I started Ameblo, I thought, "I want to make a blog that utilizes my expertise," and "What is a theme I can write 100 articles about without difficulty?"

Ameblo "Convenient Guide to Image Editing"

The first company I worked for was in the printing industry.

As a computer beginner, I learned from "copy and paste" and eventually became able to use Photoshop and Illustrator.

The blog where I wrote down the methods my boss taught me just as they were is called "Convenient Guide to Image Editing".

Back then, acquaintances would often ask me to teach them how to use Photoshop and Illustrator.

They would spread out about two books, struggle for half a day, and still not be able to do it...

Then they would contact me saying, "Shimomayu, help me!"

But when I sat down in front of the computer, I could often solve it in five minutes.

I thought, "Commercial books are difficult. It can be done much more easily."

It took time to write articles, and I almost gave up 💦

So, I tried to write the first article, but...

I would move one thing, take a screenshot... there was a limit to the number of images that could be posted in one article, so I uploaded the article in two parts, first and second half.

It took a huge amount of time to finish writing an article, and I was exhausted and on the verge of giving up.

An event that made me think, "Maybe there is a point to doing this"

My blog "Convenient Guide to Image Editing", which only had two articles, had at most about 20 visitors a day.

However, one day in August, the number of visitors exceeded 500!

What happened? When I checked the source of the traffic...

Someone introduced my blog, and it turned out that over 500 people a day were coming to visit it from there!

The article that introduced me with the comment, "I'll draw a picture of a chick using Bezier curves. It's a useful blog, lol," is here ↓

I started to think, "What I'm trying to do with this blog might actually have some meaning," and from then on, I started updating it almost every day.

Over 2000 PV per day! Featured in Weekly Diamond

By December, after I had surpassed 100 articles, it became a blog with 1,000 unique visitors and 2,000 page views per day!

Over 90% of the people who reach this blog do so by searching for past articles on Google, Yahoo!, etc. By 2009, I was able to maintain 100,000 PV per month.

It was featured in the Weekly Diamond (February 28, 2009 issue) special feature "Word-of-Mouth PR Changed by Blogs" in the 35 Genre-Specific Popular Blog List: Internet/Computer section.

Ameblo Creation Course for Absolute Beginners

It was precisely because I had the experience of "Convenient Guide to Image Editing", which gathered traffic while left unattended, that I was able to write the "Ameblo Creation Course for Absolute Beginners".

Back in 2006, there were almost no books on Ameblo yet.

CyberAgent's official Q&A was just text, and I would sometimes get comments from my blog readers saying, "I don't understand what this word means."

Around 2009, when new Ameblo features were being released one after another, I updated my blog with the motto, "Faster and easier to understand than anywhere else."

Ameblo users were on a steady rise, and the more articles I wrote, the more my follower count and traffic increased. By 2010, the number of Ameblo users exceeded 10 million. You could say this blog was boosted by the growth of Ameblo.

I remember people I met at networking events sometimes saying, "I was helped by your blog when I first started Ameblo"... Many people got to know me through this blog.

Launched multiple blogs and ended up burned out 💦

"Convenient Guide to Image Editing" had one article a day, and I reached 100 articles in just over three months.

Although I reached 100 articles in one month on the Livedoor blog "Convenient Guide to Blogs and Image Editing"... I ended up burned out 💦

The words of Shigeo Nakajima, "It's natural that you'd end up like that if you're always facing a computer. That's why I make sure to meet people," still remain in my heart today.

The origin of why I value "meeting people" is largely influenced by these words.

I was even trying to expand to other blog portals

Actually, the "Ameblo Creation Course for Absolute Beginners", had a sister blog.

I had created similar blogs not only on Ameblo, but also on Livedoor, Seesaa Blog, and goo blog.

There was also a goo blog creation course for absolute beginners.

One of them was the "goo blog Creation Course for Absolute Beginners".

It was a blog that summarized the setup procedures and basic usage of goo blog.

I opened it in April 2006 and uploaded about 20 articles, but...

Unlike the "Ameblo Creation Course for Absolute Beginners", I didn't flesh out the articles and it ended up being abandoned.

ID deletion completion email from goo blog

The other day, I received an email from goo blog.

It was a notification that the account for the "goo blog Creation Course for Absolute Beginners" had been deleted.

Although the blog is still visible, I can no longer log in to it.

While the blog was still visible, I took some screenshots.

Backing up the goo blog before the service ends

I need to back up and move "Shimomayu's Photo Diary" before the goo blog service ends...

Using one blog per theme

Until now, I have been separating my blogs by theme, with one blog per theme.

By doing this, blogs with subdivided categories covered so-called long-tail keywords and became blogs that were easily searchable.

However, I can't always write helpful articles either.

"Image Editing Handbook" has 218 articles, and the "Ameblo Creation Course for Absolute Beginners" has 311 articles. "Shimomayu's Photo Diary" has about 10 times as many articles as these.

When I can't write for my blog, if I eat something delicious, I can write a gourmet article saying, "Ah, that was delicious." If I participate in events, those become topics as well.

When nothing comes from within yourself, you need to receive it from the outside.

You get energy by meeting people or eating delicious food.

I have maintained a stance of refreshing myself with other blogs like this, and writing helpful articles when I am able to write.

One note is enough

But with note, you don't need to use different platforms like before; one is enough, isn't it?

I feel that note is a platform that values empathy.

I believe that posts that convey personality are just as necessary as helpful information.

Blogs that disappear, notes that continue to this day

It is sad that the goo blog, where I first started blogging, will disappear this November.

With the changing of the times, there are services that disappear and services that are newly born.

The other day, I received a badge for the 11th anniversary of starting note!

Seven years of no success on note💦 Over four years of continuous daily updates

Although I registered in 2014 when note started its service, I spent seven years without any success💦

I have been posting daily since May 15, 2021, and today marks 1,475 days.

Thank you for featuring me on note 💛

Someone who read this article, which was displayed in recommendations, introduced the parts they resonated with on note!

I will continue to use note, so I look forward to your continued support 😊