My latest post at the Ackermania blog:

As it happens, my first job in social media was as an online producer and community manager with the Oxygen Network , which had just acquired Moms Online from AOL. In addition to being a pioneer in the development of commercially viable online communites, the founder of MomsOnline, Katherine DeBaun, deserves credit in the annals of social media history as arguably the first, real “mommyblogger.” Kath penned an “online column,” as it was known then, called “The Daily Alexander,” which was about mothering her toddler son, Alex. At that time, the idea that anyone could build a national audience writing about the mundane details of family life every single day (!!!) was unheard-of. But Kath did. Readers loved it, and advertisers started to take notice. ( As an aside, another Moms Online producer -who also happens to be an old, local pal of mine from days of yore – is also someone I’d name as among the most influential female blogging pioneers: Spike Gillespie. Her “blog” came in the form of a weekly email to Prodigy subscribers, and it paved the way for many other provocative, confessional bloggers who have followed ever since.)

So while it’s certainly true that the social media adoption and participation rates among all Americans, including mothers, have really exploded in the past 36 months, it’s also the case that many vital, affinity-based online communities existed long before anyone had ever heard of My Space. And here’s the thing: because we hear so much about the newer social platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, many social media strategists tend to focus entirely on these better-hyped, flashier platforms, while ignoring the “old school” social networks that were created by early adopters, like the community members at Moms Online, but that remain extremely active.

Read the whole thing RIGHT HERE.