Blogging Mothers

This morning on the WUSA9 News Now show, Liz McConville, the Resource Editor for Washington FAMILY Magazine along with Janine Nickel, a blogger on the Washington FAMILY Magazine web site visited with Peggy Fox about mom bloggers. The number of moms who are online and blogging has really exploded in recent months.
If you search for the word “blog” in Google’s search engine you will find 361,000,000 results, and if you type in “mom blog” the results total 23,600,000. People are creating blogs daily for a variety of reasons but one thing remains the same, a blog is a place where someone posts information for others to read about. Bloggers are creating a space for themselves on the internet that they control where they can say whatever is on their mind.
According to Technorati.com, 83% of all global female bloggers had personal blogs and 91% of female bloggers were over the age of 25. Women were more likely to use blogs as a way to stay connected to others, whether it be to update family and friends about their lives or to seek out like minded people. Women wrote conversationally about topics that others could relate to.
A blog is short for the term weblog, which is a web site that contains personal entries. Blogs are maintained regularly and are similar to an online journal. Past entries are kept in an archive and the most recent post appears at the top of the page. People can post comments on entries.
Blogs have become popular because they are a place where moms can vent, rave and chronicle their lives. Subjects can cover a range of topics from kids to marriage to the daily routines of life. There are topics that range from diapers, personal reviews, and reflections on what’s happening in the news. No topic is off limits since blogs are solely dependent on the person who posts them.
Blogs are a great place for moms to relate to each other. Someone can read a post on a blog about the difficulty of potty training and feel that there is someone out there that is going through something similar to what they are. A mom can find answers to questions that they had been looking for. Sometimes it helps to know that you aren’t alone.
Here are a few local bloggers you might want to know:
The MomTini Loungehttp://momtinilounge.com/
The MomTini Lounge is a blog about “the business of motherhood.” Regular posts about kids and home -- parenting, childcare, teens, chores, online safety, and more. A “go-to” for the “how-to” of being a productive, organized mom. She wants to make the site user-friendly and a place where moms can come to relax, chat and get information that they need.
A Parent in Silver Springwww.aparentinsilverspring.com
Aimed at the Washington DC area, the Silver Spring area in particular, this blog focuses on places to go and what’s going on in the area. Jessica McFadden’s goal “is to provide a fun, free and accessible resource for Washington families, especially those good citizens of Silver Spring, Maryland.”
Two for the Price of Onehttp://twoferthepriceofone.blogspot.com/
After finding her college application essay in 2007, Janine Nickel felt inspired to begin writing again and after having twins she realized that she had enough material to start her own blog. Where she’s going with this blog: “My goal for this blog is to record my life, entertain those reading it, and when applicable, inform.” DC Metro Moms Blog www.svmomblog.typepad.com/dc_metro_moms/
A blog that follows a group of moms in DC area as they write about their lives living in the Nation’s Capital. It changes all the time and you don’t necessarily get the same blogger each time you go to the site.
http://washingtonfamilymagazine.blogspot.com/
This is the blog for FAMILY Magazine. I talk about what is going on in the Washington area and topics of interest from the magazine and from the social networking site DC.MomsLikeMe.com. I also talk about the MEET UPS that are going on in the area for our Moms Do Lunch™ events.
Terms you might want to know:
Twitter: A free social messaging system that connects people with the simple phrase of “What are you doing?” The message can only be a maximum of 140 characters. It is a place where people can find out what someone is doing at a moment’s notice.
Blogosphere: referring to the world of blogs
Blogger: Someone who blogs regularly
Vlog: Short for a video blog or a blog that contains videos
Discussion Thread: Consisting of messages posted within a specific topic of an online discussion and are usually listed with the most current post at the top.
Message Board: an online discussion site or internet forum
If you haven’t been following any of the mom blogs that are out there, you might want to check them out. Or, you might even want to start your own. Here at FAMILY Magazine we have several mom bloggers that we follow. If you think your blog might be of interest to the moms who visit our site, let me know. We are always looking for local mom connections.
Have a great Monday and Happy Parenting!
Brenda