I know there are over 30 million blogs out there, but I confess most of my favorites fall under the category of “Mommy Blogging.” I love reading what ordinary moms like me have to say about their days. Sometimes I think it’s truly fascinating that this blogging phenomenon has given us a voice — many of us are staying home stirring spaghetti sauce and raising our family — yet when you google a topic, our blogs rank up there as high as top news sites (especially those of us who post every day — Google seems to like that.)
So, I was fascinated to discover yesterday that Catez of All Things 2 All spent several days researching women’s blogs that were nominated for the Share the Love Blog Awards. She visited and read posts from 197 women’s blogs — wow! You’ll have to go read the details in her post, Share the Love: Demographics and Some Thoughts.
Here are the statistics:
No. of blogs I read: 197 (in 8 categories)
No. of blogs I didn’t read: 34 (in 3 categories)
Inaccessible: 3 (links didn’t work or bandwidth exceeded)
And here is how she categorized them:
Not Religious or No Religious Content
Christian (Protestant or Catholic)
Other Religious/Spiritual Beliefs
Mormon
Jewish
Unspecified
You can read her post to find out the numbers and percentages in each group. It’s very interesting! After all of her research, which I’m sure took dozens of hours, here’s what she discovered:
Most of the blogs I read didn’t have a lot about religion or spirituality. Of those that expressed a religious or spiritual belief the majority only made an occasional reference. The biggest theme, by a huge majority, was motherhood and what is called mommy blogging. I have said that before, but I think the demographics help to make the point better …
Thank you, Catez, for doing all this work! (I think this topic would make a great magazine article.) Do y’all find this as fascinating as I do? Why are mommies blogging? I’ve joined a few blogger mom groups lately — and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading essays on DotMoms — which expresses an extreme diversity of views on mothering. (Key word: diverse.) But I can’t get enough of reading about real-time motherhood — obviously!
One common thread I’m noticing personally — in many of the tag lines and throughout the posts — it seems like moms joke around about blogging to keep their sanity. I’ve always felt like I needed to write out my thoughts or I would go bananas. Maybe I’m not alone.
I’m curious — if you’re a mom and you blog, why do you do it?
Wow, that WAS fascinating information. It puts things in better perspective for me, too. I’ll have to check out the whole writeup.
I’m a Christian, kind of going through a rebirth in my personal walk right now. I LOVE to read the blogs that focus on God’s word and how it applies to our lives, but I like the balance of pure Mommy blogs, too. “Balance” and “Peace” are two words in my Home Mission Statement right now.
I blog purely for the “therapeutic value”. It IS cheaper than therapy, and I find a strong connection with some other moms, too. Helps to keep me from feeling so disconnected, when I get lost in my own days. Neighborhoods aren’t what they used to be, eh?
Comment by Karin — March 18, 2006 @ 9:51 am
Thanks Heather for sharing this information. Now I understand why I feel like an ‘outsider’ in the blogging community
.
Comment by eph2810 — March 18, 2006 @ 11:29 am
I blog to keep my sanity.
Comment by Neurotic Mom — March 18, 2006 @ 11:59 am
That is awesome that she did that and great information too!! One question…..when did she find the time? She obviously didn’t do it in one day, right? I’ll have to scoot on over to her blog and read her thoughts.
Comment by Mama B — March 18, 2006 @ 12:07 pm
I’m a mom and I blog. I started because I’m a writer and thought it would be a good way to generate some interest in my books and also to keep my “fans” apprised of what’s going on in my life. However, it seems to have turned into more of a journal for me and that was a pleasant surprise. I have tried journaling before, in notebooks or in journals and it never really lasted very long. Having and knowing that other people are reading and are sympathizing, laughing or smiling with me over incidents in my life is positive reinforcement and I guess I need the feedback. Maybe that’s why I became a writer in the first place. I have things to say (I talk a lot too) and I what to know people hear me.
Comment by Nancy — March 18, 2006 @ 10:47 pm
Great information!
Simply put–I began blogging after a life-long friend suffered a medical crisis. A blog was set up so all around the nation could be updated as to his progress. After seeing how valuable a blog could really be–and meeting new blog-buddies who stopped in unsolicited….I began to see real value in blogging!
At this time, this mom only has time to maintain ONE blog–and I have dedicated it to parents who are struggling with lost/wayward or “prodigal” children. After spending the last 10 years with a prodigal of my own–I wanted to see if I could form a network of mom’s or dad’s….to exchange ideas, share education, and offer support and encouragement as we love our prodigals home. It has been a really cool experience! I have met bloggers from around the nation…and even one mom from Australia! It seems a mother’s heart is the same no matter where we live.
Diane
Comment by Partners in Prayer for Our Prodigals — March 18, 2006 @ 10:47 pm
Good info, Heather. You sure stay busy in the blog world.
I blog for two reasons–to get more practice and exposure for my writing, and reason #2, which is also the reason I write: to win souls to Christ or encourage believers along the way.
Comment by Carmen — March 18, 2006 @ 10:49 pm
I am, therefore I blog.
Seriously. We give so much of ourselves to our families (and churches and communities and schools and extended families and etc., etc.,) that sometimes we just need something for ourselves that doesn’t involve outlaying money (ie. shopping), getting dressed up (ie. lunch with the girls) or leaving the house (ie. everything else) and still allows us to grow as individuals. Blogging challenges us to stretch us in several different ways.
And no, it’s not for everyone.
Comment by Carol — March 19, 2006 @ 4:11 pm
Hate to sound old, but seriously, I wish blogging were around when my kids were younger. Actually, one of them is quite young, but still, I’ve been a mom for more than 14 years and I could’ve used blogging for my sanity in those early days!
Comment by julie carobini — March 19, 2006 @ 10:56 pm
Mommy Blogger. Guilty.
I actually have two blogs. One is a LiveJournal that I use to keep in touch with my friends and the other is on blogger and pretty new and I’m still thinking about how I want to use it. My LJ is completely different from my blog though because the people that read it know me and I can complain with seeming whiny or boast without seeming braggy and also I can also lock certain posts that I don’t want strangers to read. It’s much more every day than my blog. I like to write. I used to write all the time. Fiction and whatnot mostly. Until I started a LiveJournal account I’ve never kept a diary before so it’s been interesting to go back and read what I’ve been up to in the last year and a half. I’m not sure why I even started a blog. I just jumped into it for the heck of it and since I know I don’t have an audience I’m still feeling my way around about what to write. You’d think that because I don’t have readers then I can write anyway I want, which, I can no matter what anyway, but I know I don’t want it to just be a copy of my LJ and when I’m done in LJ I’m kind of out of things to say.
Comment by Spring — March 20, 2006 @ 11:55 am