This was a fun assignment for me, because I have always wanted to join an online mom group, but never had the courage too. So I figured since this assignment was required, I too was required to join. I chose a discussion board from a website I have often visited, Café Mom. The website offers everything from great mommy tips, to forums on just about anything like; pregnancy, first time moms, and even dating advice for single moms.
There were quite a few different chats forums going on throughout day. However, the first forum I chose was an “introduction”. Everyone in that particular forum was introducing themselves, giving a brief introduction in their lives. Everyone in this group were moms, so the introductions for most past were, how many children everyone had, are you married or single, are you a stay-at-home or working mother.
I stayed with that group for a few days, but it didn’t seem that it got a lot of “chat action’. So then I then join another group from Café Mom, titled “what this group is not”. Now this group did get a lot of chat action. The way I worked myself self into the group was by introducing myself to the chat room, and then answering a few questions that some of the other mothers asked of me. The questions were pretty basic, how old your daughter was, do you stay at home etc.
As for being accepted by other group members, I guess I was. I seemed to somewhat just mix right in with the conversations.I replied to posts when I thought I had some creative to say about the topic.
This moms group actually had quite a bit of disagreements. One of the biggest ones I witness was between one mother and the group leader. This mother took offense to the nature of some of the discussions, particularly the ones about sex. When you join that particular group there is a disclaimer letting people know that topics as sex will be discussed, and if you do not feel comfortable with that than this was not the group for you.
Nevertheless, this mother had taken offense to some of the topics, and she wrote candidly about her frustrations. The chat between this mother and the chat leader became a little heated. The angry mother starting using profanity, and then after about three posts she left the chat.
I was very surprised at all this because, the topic this mother took offense to was rarely being discussed. When it was discussed mother were being very appropriate, and for goodness sakes, it was about married couples. Also the group posted a disclaimer, in red bold letters about these types of topics, so anyone who felt uncomfortable with the discussion of sex should know not to join that group.
Overall it was an enjoyable joining this group. It was fun connecting with other mothers, and hearing about their journey through motherhood. As a mother, I find it refreshing to know that other moms are going through the same things you are as a mother.
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February 18, 2009 at 2:57 am
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Cori Fisher said,
February 18, 2009 at 3:35 am
Wow! Exciting times for the moms! Its interesting how even with the disclaimer, the mom got upset. She must not have read it all the way! I wonder if its a norm for discussion about sex to be allowed or prohibited in group sites for moms… it seems silly for it to be “not allowed” but then thats just me!
tammyroebke said,
February 18, 2009 at 9:06 pm
I really enjoyed your post!! When I was thinking of communities I wanted to join I never thought of a MOM community. Being a mom of 4 kids ranging in ages from 6 to 16 that site would have been very enjoyable for me. It seems you enjoyed it also. As for the problems, it’s too bad an adult woman couldn’t just skip over the posts she found offensive and find other posts to join in on.
Sarah Walker said,
February 18, 2009 at 10:23 pm
The mother that left the discussion after being upset about the sex discussion was comparatively polite, especially compared to some of the instances I’ve seen! Maybe because I join forums that have teenage males, some offended people I’ve encountered or heard about kept posting rude emails when discussions or threads didn’t go the way they wanted.
duckertiffany said,
February 20, 2009 at 7:05 am
This sounds like an interesting site to join. Being a mother myself, I would find it nice to chat with other mothers and hear about their experiences and the different things they did for different situations. I love hearing how different mothers handle the great (and not so great) things that kids do. I think that it’s pretty funny that the mother was upset about the topic of sex. Especially since it’s a topic that she was not obligated to participate in.