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The death of the mummy blogger?

Carrie Grafham

25 October, 2010

Molly’s recent post ‘What we talk about, how we talk, why we talk’ got me thinking.

I commented that 50+ women were less likely to be currently engaged on social media as they hadn’t grown up using it at significant moments of their lives. I also predicted that the new ‘digital’ mum will continue to engage online throughout her life, maintaining the relationships she has made along the way.

Whistler’s Mommy-Blogger, via Mike Licht @ Flickr

However, I began to wonder about the issue of time.

This may sound unbelievable to new mums, but as children get older, a mother has less, not more time to herself. She may begin to work or increase her hours, and find her evenings and weekends chock full of activities, parties and homework.

I have recently started my own blog and believe me, it takes time! Not just to compose content, but also to read other blogs and post comments in order to make those vital connections. When the current army of new-mum bloggers find their me-time increasingly compromised, will they want to spend it on their blogs or will they prefer Mumsnet? Will social communities be a more attractive alternative or will they find these platforms too limiting in terms of self-expression?

I’m sticking my neck out slightly, and forecasting that maybe a new communication platform will replace blogging for these women. Nurturing their online relationships will still be important, but they will be looking for faster ways to stay connected. Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter are already favoured over blogs for mums of older kids, but I think something between the two will emerge which will require less thought and less dedicated time, but still offer them an essential opportunity to express themselves creatively. It may originate directly to service this need, or grow organically from another (previously teen dominated?) site.

What do you think? Do you see this behavioural need being met by a new platform? And do you think it will happily co-exist with blogging, or mark the beginning of the end for the mummy blogger?

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  • http://www.gypsybandito.com CT Moore

    I think blogs, in general, are passed their high point. I mean, they're just a publishing platform, and when they were new, they were novel and everyone had one, but now they tend only to get picked up by people who really want to write. Those are mostly looking to connect, I think, will use things like FB and Twitter.

    So, yeah, I agree with you.

  • Potty mummy

    I think you’re right AND wrong. Sure, as our kids grow up we may find tweeting etc meets our more time-limited needs, and do more of that than writing blog posts. However, I think there is a constant turnover of mum bloggers already; having been at this now for 3 years (which makes me practically prehistoric as a mum blogger), I’ve seen many blogs come and go.

    Those that go are either disillusioned with this on-line world or, as you say, find their time too limited. Those that come though – in their thousands (you only have to look at BMB, a fairly small sample of what’s out there, to see how the membership has grown over the last 3 years) – are new to this world and find it as exciting and ratifying as those that came to it 4, 5, 6 or even 7 years ago.

    I predict that this constant turnover, and the blogging mums who find it such a help to them in what can be the very lonely years of ‘young mum-dom’, and who consequently become evangalistic about the power of blogging to improve your life, will become a self-perpetuating prophecy, and they will in turn will recruit new blogging mums and so on.

    So yes, as my children get older, I may have less time to blog; it’s more likely than not, I agree. I don’t think that there is a finite pool of bloggers out there; new babies, and consequently new mums, are born every minute. And they all have something to say.

    So I would say it’s wrong to predict the death of the ‘mummy blogger’. You need to think more about an ongoing series of reincarnations…

  • utterlyscrummy

    I depends on the motivation and purpose of your blogging. If you want to review products, earn money from advertising and make a career out of it thenyou'll persevere for the financial gain. If you are blogging as a record of your childrens lives and the trials and tribulations of parenting then blog posts may be slightly more infrequent as your offspring get older but I think most Mums who blog make the time and blog when they can. Women are having babies later in life so this may help to reverse the perceived/predicted decline. I think there will always be Mums wanting to blog, for whatever reason, and hope that it is a medium that continues and is nurtured for the valuable resource and source of support that it is.

  • http://booperfunk.com/Booperkit Booperkit

    Blogging has never been more popular or accessible. Facebook itself enables blogging, be it micro-blogging, networking your blog in facebook, or photo-blogging. Communities such as BabyCentre enable blogging in the real sense, as does MySpace and many other social networking communities. Blogging has become more diverse and an integral part of what we do. Foursquare, Yelp, Twitter, it’s all blogging. WordPress for example has become easier and easier to use and customise. The new communication platform is here – it is called integration and it will continue to happen. There are virtual metaverses that are also becoming integrated with the blogging communities. Things do not die or faze out on the Internet, they evolve – and blogging has evolved into many things for many people.
    The term ‘mummy blogger’ will always be a weird one – a mum who blogs… and indeed there are many who only blog about being a mum. I think maybe they will too evolve. Blogging has become a part on many workplaces too, a communication and training platform. It’s just the start.

  • http://twitter.com/MuddynoSugar Jane Langan

    I think it depends on why you blog. When I had my first daughter blogging and the Mummy internet community didn't really exist but 4 years later, when I had my second child, it was in full force. I had struggled with my first child because I was lonely and didn't have a clue. It was completely different with my second I had built a community of real and virtual friends who supported me and helped me feel good about being a Mum. My youngest daughter is now 4. I have blogged for the last year and half because I like writing and it is a way to express my creativity and my thoughts in more than 140 characters. Sometimes it is just to vent, other times it is to gain an opinion. I sometimes blog about being a mum but I work full time and sometimes it is just some of my more random thoughts. It is a forum for me to try my stuff out.

  • http://www.lizjarvis.blogspot.com Liz Jarvis

    First of all, you only have to look at websites such as the Woman and Home website to know that a lot of 50 plus women are in fact using social media; it’s becoming increasingly important to them.

    As far as the death of mummy blogging is concerned – my own research into this has shown that women blog for all sorts of reasons. Mummy bloggers’ stats are rising all the time, and more and more mums are taking up blogging.

  • Helen

    and surely as one set of babes grow up to be teens and their respective mums have less time…. then another batch of babes are being born? It’ll just continue I think, but with the top 20 most read blogs perhaps an ever changing list?

  • http://liveotherwise.co.uk/makingitup liveotherwise

    I’ve been blogging for over 7 years, and so have a whole bunch of my friends. Can’t see us stopping any time soon, although we do use twitter/brightkite/facebook for those little snippets that aren’t worth blogging. We pre-date the mummy bloggers, and I suspect we’ll be there after they disappear too :)

  • http://tillytatas.blogspot.com/ tilly

    I guess it depends on what constitutes a 'mummy blogger' and why people blog. I'm a mum, and I blog, but I don't think I'm a 'mummy blogger' as I don't really blog that much about the kids and parenting (though my second blog concentrates on dealing with my son's autism but that still doesn't seem to me to fall within 'mummy blogging'). If you get paid in one way or another for your content then you will still blog. I like the support and inspiration that you get via blogging. I don't feel that way about Facebook and at the moment Twitter just doesn't appeal at all. So, I think I'll still be blogging when I'm in my dotage!

  • http://twitter.com/daddacool Daddacool

    Mums blog for any number of reasons, to keep a journal (a weblog if you like, in the oldest sense of the word “blog”), to join in on a community, to express themselves and in some instances to blag free stuff.

    I think a lot of them have found the joy in creating something though. A well crafted bit of writing, even if its a blog post, leaves you with something that watching half an hour of telly doesn't. I know a fairly large group of mummy bloggers are taking part in the National Novel Writing Month (http://www.nanowrimo.org/).

  • Carrie Grafham

    I completely agree – those who want to write will always write, but I imagine their blogs will contain more varied content, and their community will be identified by their passion for writing rather than their status as parents.

  • Carrie Grafham

    I think there will always be a need for blogs by new mums – I so wish I'd had the opportunity when my son was born – I love to write, and I was also sorely missing the social connections I made at work. I do think however, that as the kids get older, the posts will get less frequent. It's the aversion to Facebook and Twitter that I think will therefore drive a new platform, which will still allow for creativity and self-expression.

  • themadhouse

    I think that the Mummy Blogger title may soon be long gone, by then I do not define myself by any title be that parent blogger or otherwise. I blog for a lot of reasons, a record of what we do, why we do it, along with random musings, reviews and all sorts of other things. I did MumsNet back when I had Maxi 5 years ago and it lost its sheen for me, it was what parent blogging is becoming. Facebook, well that tends to be for my acquaintances and long distance friends not family. I have a posteous blog, which I use like a vurtual scrap book. I guess life isnt static and neither is tecnology. Blogging will all change, not just parent blogging

  • Carrie Grafham

    I came across this post from CrystalJigsaw, which discusses the reasons why mums blog. It's interesting that quote a few of the comments refer to time constraints, and even boredom. Take a look!

    http://crystaljigsaw.blogspot.com/2010/10/competitive-blogging.html

  • Crystal Jigsaw

    In my humble opinion, it would be a sorry state is mums stopped blogging. They are, after all, only human. And need to get things off their chest just like anyone else. I think blogging is a wonderful opening in anyone's life. FB and Twitter are all very well and brilliant for conversation, but we all have something to say and expressing ourselves in a blog post is a good way to meet like-minded people. I don't consider myself to be a “mummy-blogger” as such, even though I am a mum and I blog, but I think to have a variety of posts under one blog name is a good way to keep your blog interesting.

    CJ xx

  • http://www.alisongolden.com Alison Golden

    I hope mothers will continue to blog but I hope the title 'mummy blogger' will go away. I find that term to be treated with almost by many bloggers who see us as lightweights and scared of business. The whole giveaway trend doesn't help that at all.

  • http://www.babygenie.co.uk Baby Genie

    I’ve been blogging for about 18 months and find that I have more time available to write as my child grows up – mainly because each day I get better at being a mum. I manage my time more efficiently, I prioritise better and I learn how to juggle.
    I work, I blog, I cook, I clean, I even started running again this week. My son comes first but blogging is my hobby and I feel I’ll always make time for it.
    My mum is a blogger too – she’s 60 next year, and there are lots more like her!

  • Carrie Grafham

    Great debate – thanks for all your comments! I still maintain something else will evolve which will be more frequented by bloggers of older kids (maybe more of a 'family blog' which everyone contributes to, not simply mum's take on things; tweens and teens may not be that happy to have the details of their lives discussed in the same way a toddler's are). I agree with Booperkit – it's all inextricably linked and will be even more so as the technology and interfaces advance. For new mums tho', I agree – I think the need for mutual support will mean the survival of the 'new' mum blog for many years yet.

  • Carrie Grafham

    Thanks for all your comments. Tilly, I think you're right about new mum blogs – the need for connection and support will always be there for new mums, and this is where the concentration will continue to be. Mums of older kids however, might find that a new platform which allows for more 'family' blogging could appeal. Teenagers might not take so kindly to details of their lives being discussed on mum's blog, and want to take more control!

  • Carrie Grafham

    Thanks so much for all your comments – I think you're right Helen, new mums will always blog, because the reasons for doing so will always be there. As their kids get older, I think that perhaps it's not just time which will force them to embrace a new platform – it might also be the opinion of their kids. Will they be so keen on Mum's blog when they realise their lives are being discussed in such detail? (check out http://www.scarymommy.com/being-a-mommy-blogger). For these reasons their blog may evolve into more of a family blog, with kids writing too. This in turn will mean content has the potential to reach a much wider audience, as kids and dads share and link too (making monetising more possible, not less.)