Unintended Consequences of Mom Blogging

Over the years I’ve learned that the beauty of the mom blogger community is we’re all very different. After reading thousands of mom blogs I’ve never seen two that are identical in tone, approach, perspective, or design. That’s because every mom’s unique personality is intimately reflected on her blog and her life experiences are front and center for people to either respect and appreciate or take jabs at.  We’re all unique and together we’re a complex bunch to be sure. Collectively, however, we are extremely intelligent, giving, witty, generous, and diverse. That’s why I am a bit concerned to see how quickly our community seems to be collapsing into one cacophonous barrage of daily blog arguments and Twitter fights.

I believe as mom bloggers we have the innate capacity to rise to greater levels of compassion and appreciation for one another. Are there going to be mom bloggers you disagree with? Yes. Are there going to be mom bloggers who do everything wrong in your eyes? Yes. Are there going to be mom bloggers who flip the script and solely have dollar signs in their eyes? Yes. Are there going to be mom bloggers who only value first-person blogging and building authentic relationships with their readers?  Yes.  Are there going to be mom bloggers who only blog about products? Yes. Are there going to be mom bloggers who solely and unapologetically write sponsored reviews?  Yes.

It is my assertion that every mom blogger has the right to run her blog the way she sees fit without public condemnation and wayward judgments. Beyond transparency and honesty, there are no concrete standards by which all mom bloggers should adhere. We can all offer opinions and perspectives about our idea of what pristine mom blogging should be, but they are exactly that: opinions, not rules. Moms can take them or leave them and even make up their own rules along the way.

I believe that we should support and uplift each other more instead of tearing one another down, or at the very least, not succumb to the temptation of making enemies and broadcasting it to the world. Just like in the early days of mom blogging we weren’t one big happy family and we still aren’t and never will be; we’re far too different for that. My sincere hope, however, is that more mom bloggers find common ground instead of honing in like hawks on our differences. This is in no way asserting that debate is not healthy, but what I’m concerned about is when debate turns ugly as it has countless times this year. After all, we’re in this crazy thing called mom blogging together and we should remember that.