The rise of social media has changed how we understand and enact relationships across our lives, including motherhood. The meanings and practices of mothering have been significantly impacted by the availability of communities found via forums, blogs, and sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as internet resources that function to inform maternal experience and self-concept (ex. motherhood websites, Pinterest, or YouTube). The village that now contributes to the mothering experience has grown exponentially, granting mothers access to interactional partners and knowledge never before available. This volume of works explores the impact of social media forms on our cultural understandings of motherhood and the ways that we communicate about the experience and practice of mothering. Reviews and Endorsements: “This thoughtful collection adds depth to the conversation about motherhood and social media. In considering the many different and contradictory effects of life online, this book engages with issues of self-representation, privacy, and meaning making. In acknowledging that this is now the village we all live in, Taking the Village Online widens the conversation about why we live and, how and what we do, in these spaces.” —May Friedman, author of Mommyblogs: The Changing Face of Motherhood “Taking the Village Online is a timely and significant piece of work. It addresses many areas relevant to motherhood such as intensive mothering; the mommy wars; relying on each other rather than on specialists; and the ambivalence of motherhood. The book addresses how difficult it is to be an intensive mother on twitter and addresses the issue through reflection and from mothers’ perspectives. The organization of the book is terrific and the chapters meld into the sections beautifully. It could easily cross over into the mainstream, as it is meaningful and pertinent to both academic and reader alike.” —Linda Rose Ennis, author/editor of Intensive Mothering: The Cultural Contradictions of Modern Motherhood, psychoanalytic therapist and family mediator “Taking the Village Online offers an empowered perspective of mothers, and how parents can utilize social media to gain and give voice, create and maintain community and support, become individual activists and allies, and ultimately aid in becoming more open and aware individuals with regards to the relationships with their children, their possible partners, intimate and extended communities, and their selves. Poignantly addressing issues of motherhood and mothering in a mediated society from differing research perspectives, the power of the book lies in its ability to engage the reader in conversations surrounding contemporary mothering and motherhood while offering room for resonation and application to the readers own experiences of mothering, community, relationships and self.“ —Daniel S. Strasser, Assistant Professor, Gender and Family Communication, Rowan University Contents: Acknowledgements Introduction Mothering and Social Media: Understanding, Support, and Resistance Lorin Basden Arnold and BettyAnn Martin I: CONSTRUCTING MOTHERHOOD AND SOCIAL MEDIA Digitally Mediated Motherhood: Mommy Blogs and Reading Mothering Kate Orton-Johnson The “Wicked Stepmother” Online: Maternal Identity and Personal Narrative in Social Media Kirsti Cole and Valerie R. Renegar Confession in 140 Characters: Intensive Mothering and the #BadMom Twitter Lorin Basden Arnold II. SUPPORTING MOTHERS THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA Boobs, Babes, and Boots: Breastfeeding Support, Facebook, and Military Mothers Amy Barron Smolinski Mothering in the Digital Diaspora Leah Williams Veazey Mothers of Honor: Intentional Creation of Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum Support Tara Stamm, Casey Yu, and Stephanie Kennedy Mothering is not a Game: Game-Changing Measures for Parenting Education Amy E. Cross III. MOTHERS, RESISTANCE, AND SOCIAL MEDIA From “Fakebooking” and “Flaming” to a “Moms’ Support Network”: Reinforcing and Resisting Intensive Mothering Online Bronwen L. Valtchanov, Diana C. Parry, and Troy D. Glover Hip Mama: Mother Outlaws in Cyberspaces Anitra Goriss-Hunter Virtual Outlaws: Feminist Motherhood on the Internet Jocelyn Craig Feminist Parenting Online: Community, Contestation, and Change Meika Loe, Tess Cumpstone, and Susan B. Miller Epilogue Notes on Contributors |