DegrassiBlog Surpasses 10 Million Views

Ten.

That’s the total number of views this little Degrassi blog I created had in its very first month.  Ten views…and I’m guessing all of them were from me.  I technically started DegrassiBlog.com in the summer of 2008.

I made a few posts, got bored and gave up.  Blogging/vlogging, etc isn’t difficult, but it’s difficult to keep doing because to get any traction you have to do it regularly.  And once you get out of the habit of doing it, it’s basically game over (i.e. every defunct fansite that tried to make a comeback after going on a hiatus).

In the summer of 2009, I decided to fire up this blog again and put a little more commitment into it.  The rest is pretty much history.

I never would’ve expected this site to hit 1 million views, let alone 10 million and the plethora of unique opportunities that have come with it.  Thank you to all of you who’ve bothered to come to this site for whatever reason.  Degrassi has been a daily part of my existence for over a decade now, and I can tell you that the Degrassi fandom is the reason this site exists.

There were two driving factors behind the creation DegrassiBlog:

1) To have a place where people can find Degrassi info in one place.  Boy did I get lucky, because I started this site at a time where there weren’t as many places to discuss Degrassi as there had been during the golden fandom years of 2004-2007.  We have it so easy these days; Degrassi news is basically handed to us on a silver platter.  Back in the day, you had to actually research the web to find stuff (Degrassi Online knows what I’m talking about).

2) To pay homage to the Degrassi fansites that came before me.  You’re an ancient fan if you remember any of these.

Degrassi-tng.com was one of the first fansites I ever stumbled across.

Run by a girl named Ashley, they posted news and media.  There were so many fans who tried to emulate this site, but this one was always one of the biggest.

Degrassi The Next Generation Hangout (Degrassi TNGHO) was 10000000% crucial to my Degrassi fan experience.

I started watching Degrassi in 2004, during the middle of season 3.  After becoming obsessed and discovering the online fandom, I heard somewhere about some episode that was so controversial The-N refused to air it (Accidents Will Happen).  My search took me to the Degrassi TNGHO Yahoo group, where they made episode downloads available through a program called Soulseek.  Degrassi fans these days have been spoiled by Epitome’s desire to make sure the episodes are aired in Canada and the U.S. at the same time.  Back then, episodes were airing in Canada MONTHS before they’d air in the U.S., and Degrassi TNGHO made it so that us Americans could keep up with Canada’s broadcast schedule.

The Degrassi forums over at TV.com is where I spent a majority of my time in the early years.

There’s so many other sites that have come and gone over the years:  Lauren-Collins.net, Degrassi Junkie, Boycott The Caf, The Degrassi Boards, Degrassi Nation, the Degrassi.tv “Shooting Season 3” thread and The Degrassi Experience.  The same goes for fans of the show.  People enter and leave the fandom for various reasons, whether it’s because they get tired of the show or the grind of real life and entering adulthood sweeps them away.  Even I don’t post as much as I used to…I have no desire to quit watching the show, but because of real-world responsibilities I can’t obsess over it 24/7.

I remember thinking back during season 11 (2011) that the fandom at the time would naturally be completely different five years down the road (2016) regardless of what happens, and that’s well on its way to being true.

The only constants are that these sites and the multiple generations of fans have had an impact on me, and the fact that this notorious school manages to stick around through every high and low.  “Whatever it takes, I know I can make it through.”  That’s a phrase Degrassi seems to take to heart, even as its characters and fans grow up and move on.  Thank you for stopping by DegrassiBlog during your trip, no matter how long it may be, through this Degrassi universe.