To blog in The Sims 3, you need the University Life expansion pack, which adds the Social Networking skill and turns your Sim’s phone into a smartphone; once that skill reaches level 1, the Blog app appears on the phone and your Sim can create a blog. This guide covers the pack requirement, how to reach level 1 quickly, the three blog themes, how to gain followers without losing them, and what each star rating is worth.
What You Need Before You Can Blog
Blogging is not in the base game. It comes with University Life (2013), the pack that introduced the Social Networking skill, and without it your Sim’s phone has no Blog app at all.
The Social Networking skill is built on the smartphone, not the computer. Per the community wiki (a fan source we do not link), the skill does not extend to computers, which is the most common reason players cannot find the blog: they are looking on the desktop PC. Click the phone in your Sim’s inventory and use its apps instead.
How to Raise Social Networking to Level 1
The skill rises from ordinary smartphone use: browsing the web, texting other Sims and streaming video all give skill points, and the Social Networking skill book works too if you would rather study. Level 1 comes quickly with a few phone sessions. If you only want to test the feature, the skill cheats in our Sims 3 skill cheats guide can set it directly, although skipping the grind also skips the follower bonus that higher levels give.
How to Start Your Blog
Once the Blog app unlocks, click the phone in the inventory, open the Blog App, and choose to make a new blog. The Make New Blog screen asks for a name and a theme. At level 1 only the Personal theme is available; the others unlock as the skill grows.
The theme matters more than it looks, because it decides which life events trigger the Gotta Blog About moodlet, the single biggest source of followers.
| Blog theme | Unlocks at Social Networking | Events that trigger “Gotta Blog About” (examples) |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | Level 1 | Getting hired or promoted, a new baby, a wedding, a new friend, a fight, going to a party |
| Reviewer | Level 3 | Buying new furniture, seeing a movie, dining out, attending a concert, buying art |
| News | Level 5 | Witnessing a fire or a robbery, being arrested, gaining a skill level, spotting celebrities |
Pick the theme that matches how your Sim actually lives. A student Sim going to parties and joining a sorority fills a Personal blog without trying; a Sim who eats out and buys art suits a Reviewer blog. You can switch themes later, but per the community wiki every switch costs 30 percent of your followers.
How to Gain Followers
Each post adds or removes followers. Community documentation puts the base swing at somewhere between losing 10 and gaining 15 per post, with the range shifting in your favor as the Social Networking skill rises. The practical rules:
- Post when the Gotta Blog About moodlet is up. Posts made under it gain far more followers than normal ones (the community wiki cites 15 to 40). Players report it only starts triggering after the first post of each play session, so post once early to wake it up.
- Do not spam. Every post carries a chance of the Blogged Out moodlet, and the chance climbs if you post several times inside half an hour. Posting while Blogged Out loses followers.
- Do not go quiet either. A blog left alone for too long starts to shed followers.
- Level the Writing skill. It raises the ceiling on followers per post.
- Traits help, per theme. Computer Whiz helps all three themes. Charismatic, Friendly and Flirty suit a Personal blog; Artistic, Perfectionist and Frugal a Reviewer blog; Bookworm, Brave and Genius a News blog. Couch Potato, Loner, Mean Spirited and Slob pull the other way on the theme they clash with.
- Photos earn likes, not followers. The Blog app’s picture option posts a camera shot straight away, but it does not grow your follower count.
Blog Ratings and What They Unlock
Followers convert into a star rating in half-star steps. The thresholds below come from the community wiki, since EA never published them.
| Rating | Followers | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 star | 50 | Ask followers for donations (and for help with coursework at university) |
| 2 stars | 300 | Upload a resume from the phone for extra job offers; bigger protest turnouts |
| 3 stars | 750 | More influence with University Life’s social groups |
| 4 stars | 1,250 | Periodic offers to buy the blog, starting around §2,000 to §4,000 |
| 5 stars | 2,000 | The best donation odds and the highest buyout offers |
Donations arrive by mail the next morning rather than instantly. Selling the blog is a one-time payout, and there is a Social Networking challenge, Blog Baron, for selling five different blogs, which raises future donations. Per the community wiki, the Social Networking skill is also required for University Life’s Sports Agent career, so a blogging Sim has a head start there. For more to do with a famous Sim, our Sims 3 celebrity guide covers the fame system from Late Night.
More Sims 3 walkthroughs live on our Sims guides hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you blog in The Sims 3 without University Life? No. The Social Networking skill, the smartphone and the Blog app all come from University Life, so the base game and other packs have no blog.
Why can’t I find the blog on the computer? Blogging lives on the smartphone only. Click the phone in your Sim’s inventory and open the Blog App from there.
What level do you need to start a blog? Social Networking level 1 unlocks the Blog app and the Personal theme. Reviewer and News themes unlock at levels 3 and 5.
Why is my blog losing followers? Usually one of three things: posting while the Blogged Out moodlet is active, posting too often in a short window, or not posting for a long stretch. Changing the blog theme also costs a chunk of followers.
Can you sell your blog in The Sims 3? Yes. Once a blog reaches a 4-star rating, your Sim periodically receives offers to buy it, and higher ratings bring larger offers.