TheMommyBlog

Tuesday, May 20, 2008 Me, Me, Me, Other people who write, Bad Mood Dude, BlogHer

While not being able to sleep because my daughter invaded my bed and pressed her heat-seeking missile body ever closer until I fell off the edge, I began to read up on some of the links I mentioned a couple of posts back. No surprise, Jenn Satterwhite of Mommy Needs Coffee had a totally spot-on take of the genre of Mommy Bloggers. I usually stay out of the fray, either because I’ve said it all before somewhere in last six years or because I know that the title of my blog has become more of an impediment than a novelty. Yes, I’m cranky. My daughter was radiating heat like a… heat radiator thing.

Read these excerpts from Jenn’s post, and then my comment, which should have been a post here in the first place (and now is).

While we are on the topic of respect, I have to mention a great conversation that took place today. The question was asked:

“Tell me, is ‘Mommyblogger’ still a negative term in the Social Media space? Has it changed? Do you still look down? Be truthful.”

The response was quick and thorough.

Momologue responded with: “Just last week I got a ‘oh your one of those, an MB.’ Complete with a wave of hand. Dismissed.

But was quick to also add: “But I do love the online community we create. It’s the best — and it’s about diapers and changing the world.

Banannie put in her two cents with: “I always felt the mommy-blogger label was too confining, and I shook it completely a year ago when I started a new blog… much of that was because of reaction from others that made mommy-blogging feel second tier- looking back I should have ignored.”

For many of us, we remember the time when the very term or idea of mommybloggers was dismissed, shunned and looked down upon. The very first BlogHer conference had a session on mommyblogging that was a “room of our own” and was expected to bring in few people. It was standing room only. Back then, one of the main focuses of the discussion was whether or not the term mommyblogger was derogatory. Today, as I followed the discussion on Twitter, I saw many responses that were along these lines:

Shelisrael shared: “I never knew that mommy bloggers were looked down upon. Not ever. Why do you perceive otherwise?”

From Karoli: “Maybe b/c I’m older or whatever, but I never saw it as a derogatory term. Still don’t quite understand why it’s seen that way.”

And my personal favorite by Dave Taylor: “I never thought “mommyblogger” was other than a statement of heroic survival ability!”

Not everyone was loving the term or category. Lone Sophist stated:"I think that women who are mothers and blog are more than mommybloggers, that’s why I don’t like that ‘category.’”

The point is this. Just a few years ago we were in a small room and felt like second tier bloggers. Today, we are much sought after by marketers, talk shows and magazines. We’ve come a long way, baby.

I responded: “Try having a blog called THE MOMMY BLOG. Judged right out of the gate, anyone? Named yourself the Kleenex of the blogosphere? You’re such a dork. Now I’m going to get a lot of “sure thing, Al Gore, you and the Internet” crap for this, but the only reason I have that name is because I had to pick one when I opened up my Typepad account in 2002. I was stumped. Uh, blog, blog, who the fuck am I, I’m the mommy, so that will have to do until I figure out how all of this works. And then you realize it’s now fixed as part of your URL and you’re stuck with it.

Further proof of dorkitude? I created a blog for my mom at the same time called The Grandma Blog. Towering genius. But it never caught on.

So there you have it. I coined “The Mommy Blog.” Doesn’t it count if you come up with it with no outside influence? Oh yeah, there WAS no influence back then. And now my blog name is a descriptor that has become so commonplace and emotionally charged that it’s practically meaningless. Brilliant. Good luck with that.

Now I am surrounded by dozens of blogs calling themselves The Mommy Blog, Mommy Confidential, and even variations on Wonderbelly. I can’t service mark the whole dictionary, can I, so what am I complaining about? Well, I don’t want to be confused with a pro-swinger blog, or one that consists almost exclusively of blinking meme banners, or, and this really feels good, someone who does it a whole lot better than I do and makes total bank doing it.

It’s like I need a do-over, but I have six years of recognition and branding associated with the title of my blog. I called it first! Wait - can I change it?”