A Fun Writing Tag for Bloggers to Get Lost in Nostalgia – Blogging Nostalgia Tag

Reminisce your blogging journey through a writing tag called Blogging Nostaglia

Have you ever participated in a writing tag for bloggers? 

Whether it was something like The Sunshine Blogger Awards, Blogtober, or Hallotober, blogging tags are a fun way to get to know the blogging community. 

Connecting with the blogging community is one of my favorite things about blogging. It can lead to collaborations, like when I asked 16 bloggers to share their advice on how to grow a blog. 

This writing tag for bloggers, namely Blogging Nostalgia, is a collaboration between Ming Qian and me. 

Read Ming’s answers to our blogging tag in his post: What Inspires You to Write?

We wanted to create a tag that not only allows you to reminisce about the good old days when blogging was synonymous with keeping an online diary but also to connect with other bloggers.  

Do you remember when you opened your very first blog? 

My first experience with blogging was when I decided I wanted a place to document my concert experiences, even if it was just bullet points sharing the highlights of my night.

I knew I wanted to be able to remember them.

After going to so many shows, the details start to blur, and only certain elements stand out. 

I finally found the document where I saved all my old blog entries after deleting my first blog. 

So I’m grateful that writing those experiences in a blog helps me look back on those times.  

Okay, before I continue going on about my first blog, which is one of the questions in this writing tag for bloggers, I’ll share the rules with you. 

Blogging Nostalgia Writing Tag For Bloggers

Rules: 

1. Insert the blogging nostalgia tag banner anywhere in your blog post.

2. Thank the person who nominated you, and include the link to their responses.

3. Answer the nine questions in the blogging tag. You do not have to come up with new questions in this blogging tag.

4. Nominate up to ten bloggers, do not stress if you cannot come up with ten names.

5. Notify the nominees via any channel that is convenient for you (e.g., email, Twitter, Facebook, blog comments, etc.).

6. List the rules on your blog post, preferably before you attempt the blogging tag.

7. You are not required to include the words’ blogging nostalgia tag’ in your blog post title or URL slug. We understand that some bloggers will want to optimize this blogging tag for SEO. Therefore, a brief mention in the body text will be sufficient!

Introduce yourself and share three fun facts about you.

I’m Izzy, the author of a contemporary young adult novel about music entitled The Hush Society Presents.., and a full-time blogger at izzymatias.com. 

Three fun facts about me: 

One:

I’ve been in the blogging industry for more than ten years, and back then, I didn’t even know that blogging could become a full-time job.

It was merely an outlet for me to share my writing as back then, I was so shy to share my written work, mostly my creative fiction. 

Two:

I never used to like Kpop until I started listening to Astro, and now a day doesn’t go by without me listening to one of their songs. Astro is one of my sources of joy! 

Three:

I recently self-published my debut novel, The Hush Society Presents…, which is a coming-of-age story about Cameron Evans, a musician in pursuit of his dreams despite the many challenges he encounters along the way.

Within the first few days of making my book available for pre-order, it ranked as a #1 New Release and #7 Best Seller in the Teen & Young Adult Music ebooks category on Amazon!!! 

You can pre-order a copy here.

What was your first blog platform, and do you still remember your blog name?

My first blog was on Livejournal.com, but alas, I can’t remember my blog name anymore. 

On Livejournal, I began to collect my moments in music.

Here’s a treat for you – an old entry I found. 

03.31.05: This was my first time attending a concert by a foreign band. The concert was Avril Lavigne’s concert, and Simple Plan was the opening act. But here’s my secret, which won’t be a secret anymore after you read this, but I only went to the concert because of Simple Plan. At that time, I was a hardcore fan of theirs. Their tunes are just so catchy and relatable that I grew very fond of them. I was seated in the Gold Section (the nearest section to the stage). That night was really fun. My dad, who accompanied me, even had a blast. We stood on our chairs, jumping and headbanging to every song. I sang my heart out for the very first time that night. I was just surprised that the next day I still had a voice. 😮 hahaha. I vaguely remember Pierre Bouvier, the lead singer, was the life of the party. He really made my first concert memorable and a night that I want to relive over and over. It was like a never-ending party until, of course, they had to stop playing, and Avril took the stage. They did sing one song with Avril (well, David did anyway.) 

Pre-teen Izzy wrote this, and to be honest, reading it does give some flashbacks of that show. 

Why did you start blogging?

It was because I wanted to preserve the memories I had of going to concerts.

I loved concerts so much. From my pre-teen years, even after college, I’d attend concerts whenever I could.

The most would probably be a concert a month. 

What is your favorite part about blogging?

Since I’ve mentioned earlier in this post that one of my favourites is the blogging community, I’d like to share another favourite.

And this is about being able to write as a career. Since becoming a full-time blogger, I can say that writing is my job. 🙂 

What do you blog about, and why did you choose those topics? Is your blog related to your field of study? Why or why not?

I write about blogging, business, and travel.

These are the three topics I love learning more about and writing.

I graduated with a degree in Finance and Wealth Management, so I guess I can say that the business aspect of blogging is somewhat related to my field of study.

However, I don’t talk much about finance here, mostly about starting a blog and building it into a profitable one. 

If you could pick any blog niche without considering web traffic or monetization potential, what would it be? 

Right now, I would say a niche related to reviewing Korean dramas. 

To be honest, I’ve thought about starting a second blog just to review Kdramas, but I don’t think I can manage two blogs at the moment.

Who knows I may just find a way to incorporate Kdrama reviews in this blog since the post I did on 5 Business Lessons You Can Learn From Itaewon Class was one of my top posts in 2020.

Share a fun blogging memory with us.

As a music blogger, I had so many fun memories, mostly from shows or being able to interview my favorite bands.

One such memory is when I interviewed James Bay when he came to play a show in my country.

I still remember getting a text message asking if I could represent an online music publication for a press interview with James Bay.

During the press interview, I mustered up the courage to ask the first question during the roundtable interview session.

I was low key fangirling because meeting and interviewing James Bay felt like I met Cameron Evans from The Hush Society Presents...

If you could start over, what would you do differently?

I would start this blog sooner and shift my mindset from a hobby blogger to treating my blog as a business sooner.

While I loved being a music blogger, I was in denial for a long time that it wasn’t working (at least financially). 

Though it was very fun, it wasn’t a profitable blog niche, and later on, I grew tired of going to so many shows. 

I am now a picky concert-goer since I’ve had my fair share of concert experiences. I only choose to go to shows of artists I super love. 

Back then, if I had a free pass to go to a concert, even if I only knew a few songs, I’d still go and study that artist’s music before the show so I would be familiar with their songs. 

Finally, is there a blogger who inspires you? Name the first blogger you think of and your favourite three blog posts from him or her. Do not overthink this question. We are not playing favorites here!

Ah, there are loads! But at the top of my head is Kayleigh Zara. 

Here are some of my favorite posts from her: 

Surviving 2020, The Year My Blog Thrived

Easy Ways to Support Your Favourite Bloggers

Making an Affiliate Sale Everyday in July

She also kindly reviewed my signature online course How to Start a Money-Making Blog (Your Creative Business), which teaches the strategies that helped me become a full-time blogger. 

I hope you had fun reading through my answers and also got a chance to get to know me better! 

My nominees for the Blogging Nostalgia tag: 

Sarah

Celeste Lili 

Charlotte 

Louna

Clarissa

Seriah

Jenny 

Don’t forget to check out Ming’s answers!

And feel free to participate in this writing tag too if you want to do a post on it! I nominate you too 😉