Moms on social media have a bad rap. I’m always hearing talk about how moms use Facebook just to catch up with old flames, leading to divorce. Or how about those moms just use social media to blast photos of their children without any content? Yeah, you’ve heard that one before…
Well, darn it. My children are cute!
Anyhow…
What people are missing is the relationships and the information being spread around for moms in this social media world of Facebook, Twitter and anything else good that comes along. When the formula recalls took place, many moms in the social media world were already past alerting the news and were instead discussing how to respond before many of my mom friends “in the real world” knew what was going on. Because, seriously, how many moms you know have time to sit and read the newspaper or watch the morning news? And it’s not like a lot of formula vendors were actually looking out for the recalls in a timely manner. And it was the same with the crib recalls, sleep positioner recalls, sling recalls and the backlash AGAINST the sling recalls… I’ve never felt in fear that I’d miss out on important news.
Because I’m connected to a community of moms.
At first, this community was just a lot of faceless moms – People I’d share the latest child picture or share the latest laugh of “kids say the darnest things”. But what grew out of that was a support system and true friendships. When I’m awake at 3 in the morning (yet again!), I can rest assured that there’s probably another mom awake with me to commiserate the lack of sleep. Or if I’m heading into the cold, I can get a quick opinion from five friends – Did I dress my baby warm enough? And the emergency “help! My baby is sick!” Suddenly, I’m being talked down from the ceiling to remain calm and given helpful tips to make her feel better.
And dare I say it? I’ve actually found businesses that have made being a mom just that much easier: a bookstore that’s kid-friendly and open, a work-at-home mom who supplies me with my babywearing habit or the latest fashion in keeping babies warm.
So, Moms – if you’re not taking part in the Social Media world (then how did you find my blog??), you’re missing out!
Anthony Deeds
cdecaro
Ethan Deeds
jasondeeds
Keira Deeds
Kirsten Deeds
Domestic Deeds 
Oct 09, 2010 @ 21:39:47
I heard about the formula recall through a mommy blog that I read!
Oct 10, 2010 @ 07:21:01
To one of my mommy FRIENDS that I found through social media, huge hugs for this post!
Another hugely important element: Mom’s on social media are like “office friends” – someone to talk to and help get through the day, with understanding over a shared job and shared frustrations or joys. Some days it’s so necessary to have that adult interaction and to have those people who understand and care about what’s going on… even the simple things like a nap in the afternoon.