In my recent post, Are Dads the New Moms?, I discussed the growing numbers of “daddy” bloggers.
In some cases, these dad bloggers are married to established mom bloggers – and have noticed that their wives have been getting all the attention. I recently had the opportunity to connect with Royal from A Few Fries Short , whose wife is Toni-Lynn of the Grocery Price Blog. He shared his thoughts on being a dad blogger.
Do you think we are going to see a rise in the number of dad bloggers?
My gut instinct tells me yes. I see a blog as more than just a journal. It is becoming more of a social interaction. We have a few friends we do things with, but many more that we have met online. In my case, I don’t really go out with the guys. I come home and want to spend time with my family. Now it is 7:30 on a Friday night, our oldest is playing the Wii, the 2 year old is in his crib and my wife and I are sitting at our laptops together. Even though we are all not doing the same exact thing, we are together as a family. I do believe that men will realize that they don’t have to sit at a bar to have their man time. They can be home with their family and get ‘out with the boys’ at the same time.
How would you like to see marketers interact with Dad bloggers?
I think marketers could find a great way to interact with dads. Every dad is going to have or want the newest golf clubs, the best yard equipment and they will always be trying to one up each other. I can see their Twitter parties getting out of control and being a riot. I get really excited about what my wife considers to be the dumbest things. The other day, I spent the longest time at a store, just looking over different in-ground sprinkler heads. I also got a free cedar wood privacy fence. With the help of my brother-in-law, we tore it apart and made a new, better fence of it. I actually blogged about this one already on my website.
I think you need to be careful not to stereotype men into the “manly” roles that have been shackled to us for generations. Rather than focus on lawn mowers and power tools, many dads are just as involved in the buying of groceries, cooking, diaper changing, etc. The line between mommy and daddy roles are blurring now more than ever. Blogging for dads helps us blur those lines even more while it still being socially acceptable.
My point, exactly, in the Are Dads the New Moms? post below. The Daddy Blogging post above was an interview with one dad blogger — the words are his. Today’s dads are increasingly responsible for a host of activities and purchases once associated solely with moms.
I completely agree that dads are taking a more active role in their kids life and are looking for ways to communicate with other dads.
To help improve “quality time” and father/child relationships, I have created a new dad site:
Dadskool.com – The Dad Skool That Makes Dads Kool!
I hope to see the online dad community grow stronger.
Nick, it’s been so great to hear back from dads on this post and my previous one on dads’ involvement in parenting. Thank you for telling me about your Web site.