"Tired of Pretentious Instagram... I Want to Go Back to Blogging" [Youth Report]

'Online Diary' Trend Among the MZ Generation
2.14 Million New Blogs Created Last Year

Recently, Naver Blog has been growing mainly among the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z). Although short-form videos, so-called 'short-form,' have long been established as the dominant content, it seems that the appeal of blogs, where one can record everyday life in writing, has increased due to the 'text-hip' trend. Additionally, those who felt relative deprivation by peeking into others' lives through Instagram are also showing interest in blogs that can capture more natural moments.

'Using Blogs as an "Online Diary" by the MZ Generation

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Son (29), an office worker who started a daily life blog last month, said, "I started a blog to record the past year," adding, "I used to post daily photos on Instagram, but since it is a platform focused on photos, I felt it was disappointing that I couldn't properly express my thoughts." He continued, "Since starting the blog, I like that I can post my real daily life rather than photos meant to show off to others," and added, "I plan to continue posting my daily life on the blog."

With the 'text-hip' trend, where reading is considered 'hip' mainly among the 10s and 20s age group, Naver Blog is also continuing its growth. Blogs allow users to freely record their thoughts without length restrictions and tend to show natural daily life rather than provocative images or videos. According to Naver's '2024 Blog Report' released last month, 2.14 million new blogs were created on Naver from November 2023 to the end of October last year. The number of blog creators increased by 30% compared to 2020, when the blog craze began in earnest.

In the past, blog content mainly consisted of informational posts. However, as the MZ generation increasingly uses blogs as 'online diaries,' the number of creators has also grown. In particular, the 'Photo Dump Challenge' held last year was very popular among MZ users. This challenge involved recording one's daily life with multiple photos, with a total of 660,000 participants creating 3.3 million posts. The age distribution of participants was 45% in their 20s, 25% in their 30s, and 10% in their teens, with those in their teens to 30s accounting for 80% of total participants.

Some Start Blogs Amid the N-Job Craze

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The fact that users can earn extra income through blogs is also an attractive factor. Since blogs can be started without cost or time burden as long as one has a computer, they are considered a representative side-income platform for office workers.

Blog users mainly earn income through the 'AdPost' service. AdPost generates revenue by placing ads between blog posts. When a post is uploaded to the blog, banner ads are automatically attached, and if someone clicks on the ad, the blog owner earns income. Furthermore, if certain conditions are met and the user is selected as a Naver 'Influencer,' they can earn higher advertising revenue than simple ads, making it a popular side-income platform.

Meanwhile, as Naver Blog gains popularity among younger users, there are expectations that it could positively impact corporate sales. Changyoung Lee, a researcher at Yuanta Securities, stated in a report last month, "The proportion of MZ generation users on Naver Blog has expanded to 64% of total users, and the monthly active users (MAU) of 'Chijijik,' a representative young content (e-sports), reached 2.5 million. The proportion of 10s and 30s visitors to the home feed is approaching 40%, indicating an increase in young users on the Naver platform."

He added, "Unlike Google, Naver's search service is based on UGC (user-generated content) data such as blogs and clips, so the increase in this latest trend of UGC will lead to improved search service quality and may contribute to increased search revenue, which is a major source of income."