Mom blogs have been in the blogosphere news recently: first with people railing against review bloggers {check out Misconceptions about Mom Bloggers for more info on that}, then came the FTC and people saying that mom blogs should beregulated, then came the Good Morning America piece with Dooce throwing the rest of us mere mortal bloggers under the bus {check out Mom Blogger Bashing (PS-Thanks Dooce)} and this week there has been a huge uproar about the PR Blackout week in August and about the whole idea of a PR blackout in general, even if it is only for a week with a smallish number of bloggers.  I even put in my two sense with the piece PR “Outages” What’s Up With That?.  There has been a response from both sides of the fence on this issue; PR, blogger and reader alike and everyone seems to have a little bit of a different take on mom bloggers and PR, I’m not going to rehash it all here because that would be overkill.  But, suffice to say there have been strong opinions and voices on either side of the field.

Now, all of this has gotten me thinking (something that seems to be happening more and more recently) about what a “mom blog” or “mommy blogger” is.  Why did I start thinking about this?  Well, I freely admit to the fact that this site started as a review site; I knew I wanted to work with PR and companies and I knew I wanted to be a product reviewer and tell others my honest opinions about all kinds of gear for the entire family.  But, as I became more involved in the blogosphere, my review site experienced a metamorphosis into a site that not only had reviews and giveaways, but also a site that provided resources for bloggers and readers, commentary on whatever caught my fancy and stories about my life and the kids’ adventures.  BUT, even with this metamorphosis and expansion, I have recently been told that I am not a mom blogger, that I don’t have a mom blog, and that my site is a “review blog”. 

Huh?

Now, I have to admit to being a bit confused…I’m not a mom blog or a mommy blogger?  My site is still considered a review site?  That’s it?  I am in one category and there I am going to stay?  Is this because I didn’t start of as a personal site and migrate into the PR place…instead I did it vice versa?  It got me to thinking.

With all this discussion about mom blogs and mommy bloggers what exactly are they?  How would you define them, do you have to meet specific criteria or are you automatically a mom blog if you are a mom?  So, here are some definitions I have collected:

Family-and-homemaking blogs are weblog which feature commentary and discussions especially about home, family, and parenting. ~Wikipedia

Alright, I can sort of agree with that, although I happen to take except to the term “homemaking“.  But, there has got to be more…as a mother and a woman I know there is more to my life than just “home, family, and parenting…”.  Let’s keep going.

 What is a mom blog, anyway? A mom blog is simply an online journal where moms write regular entries (called “posts”) on topics related to parenting – from potty training and preschool enrollment to juggling the demands of work and family. ~Evenflo June 2009 Newsletter

Yeah, even Evenflo, a big name in kid and baby gear has gotten into the whole labeling of what a “mom blog” is.  And I can kind of agree…yup mom blogs talk about everything mom, but I wouldn’t say it is simply done (one post on my mom blog probably takes longer than one article in their corporate newsletter).  I found it more interesting who Evenflo considered to be some of the most popular “mom blogs” out there: 5 Minutes for Mom, Blogher, Seven Dogs & a Baby, and more.  I think my favorite of their “mom blogs” was the Celebrity Baby Blog…if that is a “mom blog” I will gladly eat my favorite pair of Teva flipflops.

…a mommy blogger is not a mom + a blogger. Its a niche term used to associate women in a social media niche market. ~ Trisha Haas @ Momdot 

Sure, I agree that mommy blogger is a term that is used to describe a specific type of blog…but I don’t think this is only a niche term since we see it in mainstream media all the time, and I don’t think it is applied to all women in the blogosphere because not all women are moms, and many don’t choose to talk about their kids (but yeah there are people who term every female blogger as a “mom blogger”…they’re morons).  And since it is a term for social media only, why are other bloggers jumping on the labeling game (high school anyone?  Although in high school I was a “dork”, so is being a mom blogger a set up or down?)  Do I think the term “mom blog” or mommy blogger has been scooped up and run with by a lot of marketing professionals who see it as a new and unconquered territory, and a way to expand their markets and get in touch with the people who make a majority of purchases…yeah I do, to some extent…and I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing.  This gives moms who want it, the opportunity to do something that might not have been considered 10 or even 5 years ago…review products and provide real life opinions.

Alright so there are some of what other people think about what a mom blog or mommy blogger is…what do I think the terms mean…or what should they mean?  That’s a hard questions.  Do I consider myself myself to be a mom blogger, yeah I do.  Not just because I am a mom who blogs, but because I am a mom who blogs about her kids, her parenting journey, and everything in between (Target, being a Single(ish) Parent, Mommy Confessions, and dumb people at Wendy’s).  I am about as personal and honest as I can be without being hugely embarrassing to my readers and to my kids when they are old enough to see this site.  But at the same time I don’t just consider myself to be a blog about being a mom…I don’t like labels and putting myself into one niche would be boring after a bit…so I consider myself a review site as well. 

 Hello, My Name is Victoria Arya and I am a Mom Blogger AND a Review Blogger with a multifaceted mom blog and review site.  Chew on that.

Alright, but in all honesty I think that a site can be multifaceted…a site can be a mom blog, it can be a review site, heck it came be quite a few kinds of things without making it NOT something.  Just like a blog author who can be many things, a mom blog can be many things and wear many hats without having to resort to another specific title other than mom blog.  So, just like a mom can be a jack of all trades, from butt wiper to chef to band-aid applier, a mom blog can and is the jack of all trades in the blogosphere.

The official Victoria Arya definition of “Mom Blog”:

A mom blog is a blog written by a woman who is also a mom.  Sites generally focus on, but are not exclusive to: topics about children, topics about taking care of the house, and other topics involving the life of a mother and her children and family.  These sites are generally also multifaceted like the authors themselves and can include a variety of topics that may or may not have to deal specifically with children and family.  Mom blogs are like moms themselves; jacks of all trades who do a little bit of everything.