Apparently, according to the BabyCentre recent research, mothers spend "35% more time online than the general population".
No shit.
Apparently internet usage after becoming a mother increases by a whopping 45%, mobile usage by 28% and email by 31%.
Offline habits like magazine readership and good old 'telly watching apparently decline by as much as 55% in motherhood.
I am not surprised.
I started blogging and writing much more online after I became a mum. Although I have had a blog since 2006 (long since gone, thank goodness), I only really got back on the blog horse in 2009 after the Minis arrived and I am so pleased - I can't imagine life now without my Dexterous Diva persona and business.
Facebook and Twitter action definitely stepped up, and although I make a point of still reading "real" 3-D books to step away from the screen occasionally, my magazine and newspaper reading is all online now. Twitter and Facebook is the backbone of my social interactions, and I would have NO idea what goes on outside Charlie and Lola or the park without them.
The thing is, when small people arrive we are trapped in the house much more - no more happy hour elephantine glasses of merlot to chew the cud over, evenings are taken up with bedtime routines and battles, trying to stop the house from resembling a war zone, then collapsing onto the sofa with an iPad glued to my hands.
Being online connects us to friends and family when we are too baby brained to talk. We can stalk Facebook for gossip, find out how we "should be" doing things in a quick Google minute, and as we no longer have the energy or finances to go out and party we need something else to fill that part of our lives.
Thank you, t'internet.
I would say that chronic illness has also been a major factor in my online obsession, so it makes me feel happy to realise I am not alone in my behaviours.
However, there is a downside, of course, and I loved this article by Darcy Zalewski, on the social media age making us second guess our parenting. In the social space there is so much more scope for open criticism and unwelcome "guidance" - on the global platform we now have can it make us more paranoid as parents?
Your turn:
Do you spend more time online in the post-kids mayhem?
Have you started blogging as a result of motherhood?
Have you found any detrimental cyber space side effects?
Which blogs and sites are you frequenting the most?
I was a blogger and gamer prior to motherhood, so I've always been pretty connected, but who I connect with has changed... Just like in my real world relationships. I just read an article today about how must people only post the "perfect" online and that creates a false perception. Fascinating stuff.
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