UK Politicians Remember Mom Knows Best
Everyone beware, your mom is using social media, and she is wielding a big stick. In the UK, the two main political parties are using a popular website for mothers, Mumsnet, to influence voters, according to AdAge. Mumsnet readers actively discuss child care, education, safety, and health on the site’s forums, but with 1.2 million unique users and 20,000 daily forum posts, politicians are joining the conversation.
Online moms are showing that they are a force to be reckoned with. Last fall, the BlogHer conference drew over 1500 mommy bloggers. A year-end survey of moms in Canada, conducted by Mom Central Canada and ad agency Sharpe Blackmore Euro RSCG, indicated that “digital moms” spend an average of three hours per day online.
And moms are getting more informed about how to use technology to wield influence. In Houston, the Mom 2.0 Summit, a conference aimed at moms with an online presence, began today. Sessions offer moms operating as merchants and online publishers tips on site optimization and managing legal and regulatory issues.
In the U.S. last year, the Federal Trade Commission released new disclosure guidelines intended to expose sponsored bloggers who receive goods in exchange for coverage, but mommy bloggers do not appear to be their target. In addition, moms who read the blogs of fellow mommy bloggers frequently write comments that can wield as much influence without any of the commercial or regulatory scrutiny.
As Mumsnet actively engages in the political debate surrounding the UK election, chatty, engaged users are also orchestrating mini-campaigns for the products and services they love and love to hate. In retaliation for a fake post by vitamin brand Haliborange, Mumsnet visitors posted negative rumors about the company that were so widely shared that they appeared at the top of Google search results for the brand.
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