I have twin one-year old nieces and over the past year, my sister has kept me up-to-date with emails, written as if my nieces actually wrote the emails. They write to me about play dates with friends, brag about how they learned to clap to people singing (and don’t mind if the person signing doesn’t have a good voice), and that they like avocados and mac and cheese. I love receiving these emails and I write back to them as if they are also reading the emails.
My nieces have not started talking, but these emails are glimpses into what they may be thinking. While you will never truly know what babies are thinking, beyond what the cries and giggles tell you, parents have started to chronicle their child’s lives and thoughts through social networking site, Totspot. Totspot is the Facebook equivalent for parents to create and post information about their children and share it with friends and family.
Totspot.com launched in June of this year as a place for parents with children 0-12 and expectant mothers to chronicle milestones such as a baby’s first step or first words, post pictures and daily activities. Totspot is careful to point out safety and security features available on their child’s profile. No one can access a child’s page unless the parent explicitly invites the individual to view the page. Settings also allow parents to know who has visited their child’s page and when.
Parents are using Totspot to keep friends and family up-to-date on their child’s life. Young children are not able to articulate their first baseball game or Christmas, but parents are creating these profiles to start a running journal of their child’s life and in time, these children can take over their profile and start blogging themselves.
Totspot.com isn’t the only baby blogging site out there. A slew of other sites are popping up, including Odadeo for fathers, video and sharing site Lil’Grams, and online baby journal Kidmondo.
