It's time to wake up and smell the bloggers

BritMums founder Jennifer Howze with coffee cup

Mmmm, the delicious fresh-roasted smell of the future

I have a confession to make: I have children and I’m a blogger.

Fellow bloggers won’t be surprised to learn that I blog about all kinds of topics, including family but also including politics, travel, expat life and more. They also won’t be surprised that I work full-time. Unfortunately, even on the cusp of 2013, a lot of folks are still labouring under the misapprehension that if I have children and blog that they know certain facts about me:

* That I spend my days baking cupcakes

* That I have a life of leisure typing away about home decorating and knitting

* That my husband supports me

* That I’m not a professional working woman

They might also think I neglect my children in favour of blogging or tweeting or G+’ing.

Naturally they try to put me in a box, label it “mum (or mummy) blogger” and dismiss it. In her latest column in the Mail, Liz Jones suggests bloggers like me “might as well wear a burka” because our viewpoint is so narrow.

Oh Liz, Liz, Liz. I can’t wear my burka. I’m too busy gathering stones to lapidate other women.

Right now those of us in the blogging community are in a more privileged position than people like Liz, who want to dismiss and disparage what we do because they don’t really understand. (Just how little they understand is evident in this post by Cambridge Mummy, who Liz mentioned in the piece and about whom she got just about every fact wrong.)

In a way, I feel a bit sorry for people like this. They don’t know about the power that parent bloggers wield. They’re clueless about the charities we all work with and campaigns we support, such as the #ONEMums campaign and the Syria Day of Protest Linky. They don’t understand that blogging can be a valuable creative endeavor as well as the cornerstone of a profitable business.

Not so long ago the pundits were all scratching their heads about how blogging could be anything other than pointless hobby. Now bloggers the world over are making news and creating businesses out of their blogs. (Attend BritMums Live in June and you meet so many bloggers who are launching their own businesses or carving out creative niches – it’s truly impressive.)

In a year or two folks like this are going to wake up and discover that the people making decisions in media are those who know all about the power of social media. They’ll find that that the most popular and influential “columnists” are those who run their own self-branded empires. They’ll find that the discourse on everything from politics to education to design to parenting is led by these bloggers and social media influencers.

I don’t suppose we need to worry about people like Liz Jones. They’ll find out soon enough what the media landscape will look like in the years to come.

Until then, you can find us all tweeting, blogging and — hey, why not — occasionally knitting. Anyone want a cupcake?

About Jennifer Howze

Jennifer Howze is the Creative Director and co-founder of BritMums. She blogs about family travel at Jenography.net, tweets at @JHowze and Instagrams at @JHowze. Previously, she wrote the Alpha Mummy blog at The Times and as a journalist has contributed to The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Wall Street Journal, Travel & Leisure, Budget Travel, CNN.com, Allure, SELF and Premiere, among others. She won The Maggie Award from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for a health article in Seventeen magazine.

New Mum Online

Thursday 15th of November 2012

Have any of you seen that The Guardian has now taken up the story?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/15/delights-dangers-mummyblogging

Liska @NewMumOnline xx

EmmaK

Yes it's an interesting argument Sarah Dint in the Guardian puts forward about mommy bloggers re "I think there is a difference in the way we expect men and women to expose and exploit themselves for money. I can't think of a male equivalent to Jones or Marnell, and I've spent a really long time looking for them." thoughts?

Jennifer Howze

Liska

Thanks for sharing this. I glanced at it early but need to give it a proper read

Laura@howtocookgoodfood

Tuesday 13th of November 2012

Ah this is just what I wanted to hear and you say it so well. I agree with you and we are still in the very early stages of the power of social media. I think it will hopefully give us bloggers more value and bigger klout in this mad media world!

Then soon we will rule the world. Mwhahahahahahahahaha! *clenches fist and swings black cape while exiting*

Deb

I'm a bit late with this news. After giving myself a twitter and blogging break for a few days, look what I miss. Anyhow, more seriously I agree with what you have to say though I am a bit disappointed that you've given the DM a link. In some ways I agree with Kip and others about the need not to fuel stories like this but the problem is that people read the DM and believe what they read. In that way I do think we have to challenge this negativity about mom blogging; this isn't the first piece that I've read that criticises mum blogging. Great post.

PS I also don't think there is anything wrong with blogging about cakes and knitting; said as much on my own blog. That's the great thing about blogging; the diversity. They all have something to offer.

Deb - Amen to that. In fact blogging about knitting and cakes is on the rise for good reason: a lot of people want to read that content!

Carole

Monday 12th of November 2012

Nice one! I've tried to explain my passion for blogging to my friends. they don't get it either, but then they have an excuse. I'm surprised a Mail columnist does not "get it".

Luci McQuitty Hindmarsh

That zany Liz Jones and her crazy ways. I think if we were to scratch beneath the surface - the botox, the fake tan, the make-up etc - we'd likely find a woman who would love to have a happy marriage, children and the chance to blog and make connections with other bloggers that could turn into friendships. As it is, she has a very sad little column in the national newspaper that anyone with half a brain loves to loathe.

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