The Queen of Mommy Bloggers is Taking Over Your TV
Heather B. Armstrong from dooce.com was featured on Nightline on Monday night and the Today Show last week. The Dateline interviewer called her “The Queen of Mommy Bloggers.” She has inspired many moms to share their stories online. Of course I can’t make the mundane as interesting as she does, nor would I want her style of writing. (Okay maybe some of it, minus the cussing.)
The Nightline segment highlighted mom bloggers in a positive light and gave Heather time to explain herself. Unlike the Today Show segment where Kathie Lee made some quips about “mixed emotions” and then transitioned into the next segment on housewares. I was seriously disappointed in the missed opportunity to showcase the wonderful world of blogging on the Today Show. Someone should have told Kathie Lee what a blog was before the interview.
You must check out the Nightline segment here.
Here is the Today Show segment in case you missed it:
In case you aren’t already one of her one million fans and haven’t seen it yet, she wrote about her experience on the Today Show today.
While we are on the subject of Dooce. If are even remotely jealous of Heather’s success (and 40K a month revenue) check out A Mommy Story’s post titled, “How to Become a Popular Mommyblogger.” Here is my favorite part of her post. It is completely true!
The truth is, if you’re blogging to become popular/famous, you might want to reconsider your goals. After all, being a famous mommyblogger amounts to nearly nothing outside of our little electronic boxes and internet tubes. Go ask your hairstylist who Dooce is – chances are, she doesn’t know. Ask your parents, your neighbor, the mailman. They probably don’t know, either.
Maybe, just maybe, our family and friends and neighbors will start knowing what a blog is if the media keeps covering Heather and all the other amazing mom bloggers writing about poop and boogers.
Did you watch the Today Show and Dateline segments? What did you think?
I am still annoyed that Hoda Kotb said “Mommy Bloggers” in a funny voice and used air quotes in the introduction. Really?
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I think the truth is, that to many people. blogging is still an unfamiliar concept.
I don’t know any of my in-real-life friends who even know what it is.
As more and more media cover blogging, it will become part of mainstream life. But for now, it’s still something “some of us” do.
The Today Show interview represented a fluff piece headed by two interviewers used to doing makeup and home decorating segments. They didn’t do their research and it showed.
At least on Nightline, the interviewer obviously spent a lot of time with Heather beforehand and took time to get a real feel for what blogging is about.
As far as popular mommy bloggers, I think it’s wonderful that some of us can make money doing this…what I’d hate to happen is if that goal becomes paramount over content and authentic writing.
What is it about blogging in general that seems to warrant an explanation? I have been blogging personally for about 2 years and I still say that I love to blog in hushed tones, as though it’s a silly way to pass the time. You and I know better, of course – blogging’s awesome! – but it’s hard to explain that to other people. How do you blogging ladies share your hobby with others, with what words & tones? You indicated at the end of your post, Amanda, that Hoda kind of “mocked” the concept of mommy blogging. Why did she do that? It reinforces my thought that blogging must be a silly way to pass the time. There’s a tension there. Other thoughts, y’all?
ps. Way to go, Dooce!
@Deb – First, thanks for pointing out that it was Nightline, not Dateline! It was late last night when I wrote it up. Oops! I totally agree that as more media covers blogging, then it will be a part of everyone’s vernacular. I hope it is soon. Honestly though, it makes me excited that I have jumped into the world of blogging at this time. Popular bloggers are popular, because they have been around forever. One day when blogging is super popular I will be one of those dinosaurs that have been blogging for years. I just need to be patient.
@Dawn – I know! I go around telling people that I am a founder of a mommy blog and people just look at me like “that’s nice, but you don’t really do anything.” Mostly I just assume that they don’t know about it and forgive for their ignorance. Some of my friends have started blogging themselves, since the rest of us started doing it. Also, it is mostly folks who don’t get on the internet. Sooner or later people won’t be able to ignore the internet.
The Today Show interview was horrible, but that’s already been covered.
It’s an interesting thought: will blogging become mainstream at some point? I actually think it will. The mainstream media will fight bloggers, b/c it sees blogging as a threat (for example, that NY Times article on blogging to death), but eventually, I do believe that blogging will be part of the mainstream.
I get especially annoyed by people who say “Why do bloggers (like Dooce) make money from their blog? I mean, they don’t even do anything!” I only wish these people knew how hard it is to blog every. single. day. It takes a mighty creative and active mind to keep a blog updated every day – it IS a job for some and I think they deserve to get paid from advertisements. I think the cynics are just jealous that they didn’t think of it first.
Blogging (at least on a personal level) is a sort of hybrid between keeping a journal and writing letters to friends. And that takes a fair amount of diligence, as well as (like Kara pointed out) a creative mind to make the everyday seem rather extraordinary, or at the very least, entertaining.
I’ve been blogging for a little over a year and love it. It’s so nice to be able to jot down interesting tidbits of my life, and keep family and friends updated on our lives.
My mom called me to tell me all about the interview and how she thought I’d be the next Dooce. haha!
I’ve seen her site, but haven’t checked out the interview yet so I can’t comment on that. It does sound like Hoda’s presentation of it was snide though.