Scandinavia is more than Bullerbü romance
“What do you actually do with a Scandinavian studies degree?” is a question the four friends Steffi (29), Josephine (28), Jaana (30) and Natasha (27) have heard countless times. A year ago they finally had an answer: “Blogging!”. Almost exactly twelve months ago they launched their blog Better North than Never! in which they deal with various topics relating to the Scandinavian countries, from music, culture, travel and all sorts of events, to politics and current debates. Although they are all big Astrid Lindgren fans, they still want to show that Scandinavia has more to offer than Bullerbü romance... both positive and negative!
In the beginning there was a desire for creativity. The desire to write. And so Steffi suggested to her fellow students Jaana, Josephine and Natasha that they start a blog together. The four knew each other from their Masters in Scandinavian Studies at the Humboldt University in Berlin and so the topic was obvious: Scandinavia, with all its beautiful and not so beautiful sides! However, choosing a suitable name for her blog wasn't quite as easy. Josephine remembers it well: “It was a really long process until we agreed on a name. We had many, many proposals, but as soon as there was even one veto, the proposal was out.” At some point they will be on Better North than Never! came, which all four liked immediately. They like that you immediately think of the saying “Better late than never”; they hope that the blog name will be easier to remember.
It took about two weeks from the idea to going online. The four of them have been filling their blog with life for twelve months now, without any editorial plan. And although they blog “freely,” the four friends don’t see their blog as just a hobby. They invest a lot of time in their baby, get accredited for events, watch Scandinavian films, listen to Scandinavian music, conduct interviews, deal with Scandinavian culture, politics, etc. in order to make the most exciting posts possible for their blog. The thematic diversity is quite large, as long as it has something to do with Scandinavia, it is interesting for the bloggers. For example, last year Jaana wrote an article about the Berlin subway , which at first glance has little or nothing to do with Sweden, Norway and the like. At second glance, however, it does, because the subway network was largely planned by a Swedish architect.
Scandinavia is known as liberal and open-minded, but there are also social and political dark sides there. In her master's thesis, Josephine already dealt with the topic of “right-wing populism in Sweden” and the entry of the right-wing populist Sverigedemokraterna into the Swedish parliament in 2010. Even after her master's thesis and her degree, the topic doesn't let her go, which is why she keeps posting articles on this topic in her blog, such as at the end of June 2014 about the Sverigedemokraterna MP Margareta Larsson, who took exception to an abstract work of art.
On average, they invest around two hours a day in their blog. Which is impressive, especially when you consider that the majority of Better North than Never bloggers completed their studies and started jobs in the last year. Concentrating on a blog after work or on the weekend requires not only passion for the topic, but also a lot of discipline.
But the hard work pays off; after just one year, an average of 40 to 50 people read your posts every day. And so it has already happened twice that strangers knew your blog. The dream of the blog being financially viable at some point is slowly getting closer and closer.
You would also like to become blogger of the month or know someone who should be. Then simply write a short message to rademacher@uniglobale.de
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Scandinavia is more than Bullerbü romanticism “What do you actually do with a Scandinavian studies degree?” is a question the four friends Steffi (29), Josephine (28), Jaana (30) and Natasha (27) have heard countless times. A year ago they finally had an answer: “Blogging!”. Almost exactly twelve months ago, they launched their blog Besser Nord als in a blitz
