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Becoming a mom has taught me a lot about the Internet. Of course, it has also taught me a lot about life in general -- this morning's lesson was not to try to save a few bucks by buying the generic brand of diapers. But given the numbers of Web sites targeting mothers -- including the latest, ClubMom (see BW Online, 9/7/00, "Can ClubMom Harness the Power of Motherhood?") -- my observations on motherhood and the Internet are perhaps relevant.
With a mere six months of parenting experience under my belt, I can say with some conviction that surfing the Web and motherhood are not that compatible. The major problem: It's hard (I'll admit, not impossible) to sit in front of a computer, type, and navigate the Web using a mouse while holding a baby. I'm sure the same goes for surfing the Net while trying to make sure a toddler doesn't stick a fork in a socket.
Far easier for a multitasking parent is to get on the phone (preferably cordless and ideally hands-free) for doing things like communicating with friends or ordering baby gear. It's also easier (and a better break, to boot) to stick my daughter in a stroller and go out into the real world to purchase items or visit with friends than it is to try to accomplish the same tasks on the Web. One friend with two toddlers says she finds it more practical to handwrite notes to friends rather than send e-mail, since she can easily pick up and put down a pen and a note card during the constant interruptions of child-rearing. It's much harder to make use of three-minute blocks of spare time when you have to dial-up the Web and type out an e-mail.
Likewise, when it comes to finding information on baby care, a shelf of books at home is a far more handy reference tool than the Web. Even more effective is a phone call to the pediatrician's office.
"VAPID." But that's assuming the sites that target moms have valuable information to offer, which I have found they rarely do. Business plans of these sites tend to emphasize the woman's control over the family pocket book -- an estimated $1.6 trillion in spending a year. To marketers, that sounds like a great niche to tap into. But any mom will tell you that women and children are far too diverse a bunch to appeal to as a single market. Attempts so far to create a cohesive "community" are dissatisfying, if not demeaning.
In fact, the most glaringly obvious problem with women-focused Web sites is the complete drivel they largely foist off as helpful content. As Julie Tilsner, a friend and author of Planet Parenthood: Adapting to Your New Life Form, puts it, "They're like women's magazines -- vapid content, the sort of stuff I'll flip through in a doctor's office or on the beach, but not anything I'd ever subscribe to. I can take a Cosmo to the beach. I'm not gonna take my laptop and modem."
If I have a few spare minutes to surf the Web in the evening or during a break at the office, I'm not going to spend it reading these mostly obvious, simplistic takes on generic parenting issues. One day's offerings include iVillage's "Are Those Old Roller Blades Safe?," Women.com's "Ways to Take Part in Your Child's Education," and Club Mom's "Kids Who Stay Up Late." While these stories may sound relevant, at my early stage of parenthood, I have already read the same advice 10 times. Oxygen.com actually had a pretty original article highlighted on its home page -- "Let's Play 'Mommy's Dead,'" about children playing at planning their parents' funeral. But, while intriguing, that won't be enough to keep me coming back.
WHERE'S THE AUDIENCE? ClubMom, as opposed to some of the content-oriented sites, promises to save women money by forming a kind of big buyers club. That sounds like a worthwhile aim, but I still think the company will run into problems with the basic inconvenience of using the Web while caring for children. While I'm an inveterate bargain shopper, I have quickly learned that parenting and scouting for buys (which takes extra time), don't go hand in hand. If it's not fast and convenient, I don't care about saving the extra 10%.
I have hardly done scientific research (which I'm sure many marketers have), but I know I'm not alone in my disdain. I polled my cadre of Web-savvy friends for their favorite women-oriented sites and got back some quite vitriolic responses. "It's vaguely insulting to think because I'm a woman, I need to go to certain 'women-friendly' sites," writes Tilsner. Another friend says she "got disgusted" after perusing a few of the sites and never went back. Another friend with a one-year-old describes them aptly, "just blurbs here and there, and more and more links. The mom's pages are the worst."
These sites don't need me and my friends to be a success, but something tells me that if this bunch -- many of whom, like me, use the Web for work -- find these sites appalling, there can't be too large of an adoring audience out there.
BIG TARGET. The irony of my findings is that when I was pregnant, I found the Web an invaluable resource. My favorite site was BabyCenter.com, which has a wealth of solid health and medical information. I loved its pregnancy calendar and weekly e-mailed updates on my unborn child's development. But along with my insatiable desire for more information, I also had a lot more time then than I do now.
I still get weekly e-mail from BabyCenter with timely information on my daughter's development. But I only just now got around to reading them because I was working on this story. BabyCenter is making a valiant effort to provide solid information to parents (while selling them stuff). But my advice to executives at women-oriented Web sites remains the same: Forget about moms on the Web. Pregnant women -- now that is a great target audience.
Stone is an associate editor at Business Week Online. Edited by Beth Belton
Copyright 2000, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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