Over the past few weeks, I must have looked at almost every “mommy blog” in existence. Never heard of them? Neither had I. To prepare for BlogHer ‘11, I was tasked with checking these mommy blogs to see who was attending the conference this year. BlogHer is the largest conference in the country for female bloggers, bringing together over 3,000 women from around the country to network and attend information sessions on every blogging topic imaginable.
I have to admit, I occasionally became distracted looking at these blogs. Who could resist the hilarious story of a blogger who bought a five foot tall wire chicken, named it Beyonce, and left it on her front step to surprise her husband? Or who would skip over the blog dedicated solely to amazing panini recipes, complete with mouthwatering pictures?
As a college student, I have yet to truly dive into the blogosphere. I created a simple blog to document my semester abroad for my family at home but it was nothing like these blogs I have recently been perusing. However, I have come to realize that blogging is not just for the avid technology users- there are blogs covering every hobby, habit, and interest out there. Blogs can sometimes invite over-sharing, but often the quality information that comes out of blogs can inspire or assist others. After this experience, I have started to use blogs as a source for information, advice and humor, and I have also learned not to discount blogs as a source of news.