Shine starts to fade for mummy bloggers as study indicates interest falling away
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Australian mums are turning away from reading and writing blogs in a sign the gloss may be coming off the mummy blogger phenomenon, according to a new survey.
Just 15 per cent of mums questioned in the study are currently writing blogs, a sharp drop from the previous study in 2012 when 27 per cent said they were blogging. Of those who are blogging, seven out of 10 are doing so to promote their business with the remainder penning articles about their personal lives.
The study was conducted by social research agency Mums Now, which spoke to 1,500 Australian mothers about their social media habits and technology interactions.
In addition to the decline in writers, mums are reading 47 per cent fewer blogs while the number asking questions on forums has declined 29 per cent.
Mums Now partner Mary-Anne Amies said the findings indicate the mummy blogger boom may be over. “As with many things, when something is new everyone jumps on it but it then loses its excitement,” she told Mumbrella.
Time spent on blogs has also decreased since 2012. Overall, 84 per cent of mums spend less than one hour reading blogs, a 5 per cent increase on 2012, while those spending more than one hour reading posts has tumbled 25 per cent.
In a swing from 2012, mums see themselves as primarily interested in blogs (39 per cent) rather than subscribing and posting comments.
“Mums have become less active, they are less likely to comment and subscribe,” Amies said. “The surge of blog promotion through social media could be driving this as they are sampling more but engaging fully with less.”
More than half subscribe to less than five blogs (52 per cent), an increase on the 58 per cent in 2012. There has been a 14 per cent fall in the number of mums subscribing to five blogs since 2012, supporting the drop off in engagement levels.
The survey also found that the overwhelming majority of mums (80 per cent) do not like the Mummy Blogger label. Those not working were slightly less against it, with 34 per cent identifying with the term, while only 15 per cent of mums running their own business relating to the title.
“Mums who are in business also don’t like being called Mumpreneurs. I think it is women saying, I am a mum but that doesn’t define me,” Amies said.
Facebook remained the runaway leader in terms of most popular online activity with 99 per cent of respondents using the social media site. Second was online shopping (76 per cent) and researching products third with 67 per cent.
Pinterest gained traction with 13.3 per cent of mums using it.
Steve Jones
I used to ‘Mummy blog’ back when I was on maternity leave. But these days, I am a single mum and I have this thing called a job, so I have no time to sit and blog, and chit chat on twitter on day.
Quite jealous though of the mums who have the time – it’s usually because there’s a husband in the picture who is paying the bills.
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I would absolutely second the perception of the “mummy blogger” label – it is often applied to pretty much any woman writing a lifestyle blog who happens to have a family, and sometimes to bloggers who don’t even have children.
I however dispute the findings on readership declining, as we have seen the exact opposite within the parenting vertical of the bloggers we represent. Their audiences have increased steadily, with an average increase of 32% since this time last year for the blog traffic alone. Instagram/Facebook audiences increased by up to 80%.
And ditto for the engagement – this has increased year-on-year. We recently surveyed over 8,000 readers, and found that 90% of them have used a tip or advice shared by the blogger.
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“The survey also found that the overwhelming majority of mums (80 per cent) do not like the Mummy Blogger label.”
Exactly -it’s such a condescending label, as is ‘mumpreneur’. Yet the media keeps using it – and you’ve even used it in the headline. Come on, you’re better than this!
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I’d be interested to see how much of the interaction that use to happen on blogs and forums has moved onto social media. I suspect a lot of the comments that used to happen in comment threads are now happening in Facebook, Twitter and Instragram. Although I’m sure it’s true that interest and interaction is down overall.
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The whole MummaMia phenomenon has become tired and boring. “Mums” don’t have any more important a voice than anyone else, so their time in the spotlight is coming to a close. All of this content and interactivity can be found on FB.
Next trend please!
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There’s no way I’d spend my advertising dollars with these bloggers. The majority of their comments are from other bloggers trying to lure more readers over. After months of researching the country’s most popular blogs, they seem more of a liability to my brand than anything else. They’re extremely free with their uneducated political views, their strange parenting ethos and totally unconvincing in their product spruking. In addition, they’re deathly boring.
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Agree Mummybloggers and their uneducated jump-on-the-bandwagon political views are so passe. Why did they all start wearing those Julia Gillard spectacles? The strangest thing.
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Calling the category ‘mummy bloggers’ may not be deliberately belittling and dismissive, but it’s akin to calling Mumbrella a ‘commercials blog’.
Anyway, a lot of women I know have been turned off reading the category because, as the survey shows, seven out of ten publishers are trying to make money, and a lot of time that comes from being paid to say nice things about advertisers’ products.
Nobody likes a shill.
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