Catherine Archer

A Thematic Analysis of Mothers' Motivations for Blogging.

Introduction Various forms of social media are used by many mothers to maintain social ties and manage the stress associated with their parenting roles and responsibilities. ‘Mommy blogging’ as a specific type of social media usage is a common and growing phenomenon, but little is known about mothers’ blogging-related experiences and how these may contribute to their wellbeing. This exploratory study investigated the blogging-related motivations and goals of Australian mothers. Methods An online survey was emailed to members of an Australian online parenting community. The survey included open-ended questions that invited respondents to discuss their motivations and goals for blogging. A thematic analysis using a grounded approach was used to analyze the qualitative data obtained from 235 mothers. Results Five primary motivations for blogging were identified: developing connections with others, experiencing heightened levels of mental stimulation, achieving self-validation, contributing to the welfare of others, and extending skills and abilities. Discussion These motivations are discussed in terms of their various properties and dimensions to illustrate how these mothers appear to use blogging to enhance their psychological wellbeing.

Show me the money: How bloggers as stakeholders are challenging theories of relationship building in public relations

Conventional ‘normative’ theories of public relations have often centred on relationship building, dialogic theory and two-way communication. Despite these theories dominating much of the academic literature, practitioners continue to seek control in relationships to produce ‘value outcomes’ and meet measurable objectives for the organisations they work for. Public relations workers’ ability to influence the influencers has been framed as relationship development, and payment for editorial content or other influence has been seen as unethical. With the rise of social media, the so-called ‘new’ influencers are now bloggers and Instagrammers. Given that most social media influencers now wish to be compensated with payment or in-kind for any work related to brands, this article discusses the implications for ethical practice and public relations theory. The mask of relationship building in the social media age needs to be removed and the importance of payment to bloggers needs to be acknowledged for the theories of public relations to develop.