Aruaru

Overview

Aruaru (あるある, roughly "so relatable") is an expression for a shared experience or situation that many people have been through. It's used in the form "[topic] aruaru," and it also shows up in social media posts. "School aruaru," "part-time job aruaru," and "train aruaru" are formats that list shared experiences on one theme.

Relatable moments can bring the discovery that "the thing I thought was just me is actually the same for everyone." You could call it a way of clearing up pluralistic ignorance. Some people find the appeal in the moment when "maybe I'm the only one who thinks this" turns into "oh, everyone does!"

Question box aruaru

Question boxes have relatable moments too, like these. You check every five minutes to see if a question has come in. You reread an answer you wrote late at night and feel embarrassed the next morning. You said "ask me anything," but no questions come and you start to panic. A nasty question bothers you all day. You think of a better way to put it right after you finish writing your answer.

Answers that talk about relatable moments like these may strike a chord with followers. The relief of "so it wasn't just me" also plays a part in the mood of a question box.

Using aruaru in your question box

Relatable moments can also be material for livening up your question box. For example, you can put out a prompt like "Send me your question box aruaru!" and have followers send in their experiences.

Here's an example of working a relatable moment into an answer: "Have you ever had this happen? I have." The moment readers think "yes, me too!" can be a chance to close the distance between them and you.

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