I Heart Mommy-Bloggers
I guess it's no surprise that my twitter stream is largely dominated by women who are mommies. It's becoming a reflection of my friends list on LiveJournal in that regard. I've got a solid list of political and issue blogs I read, but when it comes to just personal, relating to my lifestyle reading, I love reading mommy-blogs. These women wrestle with the same parenting and family issues that my family does. I'm not saying that single folks, childless couples, and LGBT singles and couples don't have family issues. On the contrary, many of those writers are excellent. Still, my area expertise, if you will, is being dad to two boys who are now almost 14 and 20.
I enjoy reading about the exasperations of a parent who works full time, then has to deal with school carpool, soccer practice, dance lessons, and all the other things that suck away the free time of a mom or dad. It's good to hear stories from parents of older kids, so I can get some perspective on what mine are doing/feeling. I can actually comment with authority on the trials and tribulations of being a playground parent, and I particularly love it when we go off on tangents like whether or not Steve from "Blues Clues" is cool.
Social/community sites like LiveJournal and Xanga were two of the best places to find parents who blog, but the ease with which setting up a blog with WordPress has become has empowered mommy bloggers to get a bit more independent, reaching out from the communities. Some women have taken blogging beyond just personal journaling, promoting their expertise in various areas through their blogs.
In either case, community or independent blog, the notion of regular, set-piece writing still puts some folks off. That's why forum-based sites and chat rooms are still packed with participants. They are places for disposable conversation. Chat rooms fit the lifestyle of the SAHM/WAHM in that it's easy to sit at the computer a bit, get up and deal with kids, and come back when things settle down. I personally find chat rooms intimidating. It's like seeing a group of 3-5 women sitting at a table in a coffee shop. It would be totally rude for me to just sit down and start talking to them. They would get more than a little annoyed if they had to do introductions around the table just for my benefit, you get the idea.
Enter Twitter and "micro-blogging."
In this regard, Twitter is a variation on the classic chat room. With messages limited to 140 bytes, conversations have the back-and-forth dynamic of chat. Unlike a chat room, however, Twitter is a much larger community. "Following" on Twitter is much less intrusive (and much less intimidating) than jumping into a chat room. Profile entries and pointers to homepages/blogs provide background on those following you. Unwanted followers can be blocked. These features foster a good environment for conversation, and the moms and dads have adopted it.
And that's a good thing.
I enjoy reading about the exasperations of a parent who works full time, then has to deal with school carpool, soccer practice, dance lessons, and all the other things that suck away the free time of a mom or dad. It's good to hear stories from parents of older kids, so I can get some perspective on what mine are doing/feeling. I can actually comment with authority on the trials and tribulations of being a playground parent, and I particularly love it when we go off on tangents like whether or not Steve from "Blues Clues" is cool.
Social/community sites like LiveJournal and Xanga were two of the best places to find parents who blog, but the ease with which setting up a blog with WordPress has become has empowered mommy bloggers to get a bit more independent, reaching out from the communities. Some women have taken blogging beyond just personal journaling, promoting their expertise in various areas through their blogs.
In either case, community or independent blog, the notion of regular, set-piece writing still puts some folks off. That's why forum-based sites and chat rooms are still packed with participants. They are places for disposable conversation. Chat rooms fit the lifestyle of the SAHM/WAHM in that it's easy to sit at the computer a bit, get up and deal with kids, and come back when things settle down. I personally find chat rooms intimidating. It's like seeing a group of 3-5 women sitting at a table in a coffee shop. It would be totally rude for me to just sit down and start talking to them. They would get more than a little annoyed if they had to do introductions around the table just for my benefit, you get the idea.
Enter Twitter and "micro-blogging."
In this regard, Twitter is a variation on the classic chat room. With messages limited to 140 bytes, conversations have the back-and-forth dynamic of chat. Unlike a chat room, however, Twitter is a much larger community. "Following" on Twitter is much less intrusive (and much less intimidating) than jumping into a chat room. Profile entries and pointers to homepages/blogs provide background on those following you. Unwanted followers can be blocked. These features foster a good environment for conversation, and the moms and dads have adopted it.
And that's a good thing.
Yeah, I can't believe I'm getting into Twitter. But I am thanks to you and a few others - it's fun, fast and easy. :)
I like mommy-bloggers too but the *detail* kid stuff kind of goes over my head.
Hey, I was just promoting my love for Steve Burns of Blue's Clues yesterday on Twitter! Had to put the smack-down on some people that suggested he was a heroin addict.
Give a balding man a break, people.
I just can't do message boards and communities like that anymore. They were, at one point, my go-to mom-info source, however I have since embraced blogging and, yes, twittering.
On a rude note, I just feel like there is better quality information and opinions within blogs, comments on blogs, and twitter communities.
And we love you back, bebe.