Moms who Blog
MEET YOU THERE!
The momosphere can also become a haven or meeting place for like-minded moms who, by search engine or serendipity, stumble upon a blog post about potty training or preteen angst and return to that particular blog again and again. Some of these moms may even become real-world friends—the ultimate blogging dividend.
“Blogging, and especially mommy blogging, is about community and about conversation: two things that mothers, especially mothers of very young children, are often desperate for,” says Donders.
“With blogging, I can write about my frustrations, my fears, the things that haunt me in the wee hours of the morning, and find a welcoming audience of friends (and sometimes strangers) who offer advice or suggestions or even just a cyber hug.”
As that spirit of community begins to unfold, bloggers frequently discover that they can make things happen, mobilizing their collective mom power to effect change when breastfeeding clinics lose their funding or childcare programs get cut. And when it is at its best, the momosphere can be home to all kinds of creative, mom-inspired ideas and solutions—both collective and individual. Now that’s something to blog about.
THE DARK SIDE
Not everything that happens in the momosphere is positive and empowering, however. When you put your private thoughts and family life on public display, you leave yourself open to criticism by anyone who happens by—your mother-in-law, your boss, a mean- girl blogger or an Internet troll. So while there’s certainly a whole lot of bloggers who let it all hang out, others are more selective about what they share and about how they share it.
“As my daughter grew and developed her own voice and personality, I had to find ways to portray her while protecting her too,” says Good. “I found that the best way to do so was that in depicting her, to never show her full-faced [in photos], instead letting her hands, her figure and descriptions of her whimsies give the impression of her.”
It might be the Internet stalker-type that comes to mind as the most obvious of online downside, but there’s also increasing nastiness from within the blogosphere. Whether it’s the dream of fame via an editor waving a book contract or fortune via huge blog ad revenues, for some bloggers it’s all about blog-hit numbers and building up audience share.
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