(Tobin Grimshaw/Canadian Press)

Kim Edwards is a Toronto-based freelance writer and editor. Reach her at kim@kimedwards.ca.

Teens have been taking advantage of the internet for years to connect with peers and share practically everything about their lives with the world in an instant. Now their moms are getting in on the act.

Personal websites, blogs and discussion groups have become popular ways for people to express themselves, and mothers are no exception to this rule.

These sites offer a sort of "virtual scrapbook" where parents can share photos, stats and stories about their child with friends and family, and potentially people around the world looking for advice. Type "Mommy Blog" into Google, and more than three million sites pop up that have been built by moms around the world eager to show off their little ones.

Social networking tools such as MySpace and Facebook are also offering a place for parents to brag about their kids and post photos. Groups are appearing on Facebook for parents and covering specific parenting issues. Take, for example, the controversial "Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!" group, which has more than 26,000 members and was created after Facebook started to ban members' photos of women breastfeeding.

Less controversial is Facebook's Canadian Mommies group, created by Jessica Martin, a 27-year-old, stay-at-home mom of two. "I started up the group originally for me," she says.

Feeling isolated without a car, she was often confined to her home during the day. "I wanted to see if there were other Canadian mothers who could share my experiences. From there I realized that other mothers were finding support within the group and I saw that I was helping to build a small community with motherhood binding us together."

With 156 members, the group is relatively small, but Martin says, "I have received very good advice from some of the members of the group [such as how to prepare a toddler for a new baby in the family], as well as providing some support to other fellow mommies on topics ranging from weaning to whether or not to have another child."

More comprehensive is the forums-laden site Just Mommies. The site was created in 2004 when a Michigan stay-at-home mom, Patty Hone (now 34) and her identical twin, who had been members of various online communities for more than six years, "really wanted to try something that was above the rest."

"We're getting there," she says, going from having "a few" articles and five forums, to more than 200 forums and over 375,000 unique visitors each month. She says the moms who visit the site range in age from their 20s to 40s, most with children are under four, and about one per cent of the visitors are men.

Some groups — like Mocha Moms are a hybrid of traditional and online groups. The site was created in 1997 by four thirty-something African American mothers in Maryland who wanted "to support stay at home mothers of colour," says Kuae Mattox national director of media and publicity for Mocha Moms.

"Historically, African American women have not had the opportunity to stay at home and take care of their children," Mattox says. "This is a new frontier for African American women who have had mothers who worked. The website allows a chance for African American women to come together and support each other in this new venture and new journey as stay at home moms."

With 3,000 members in 100 chapters across the U.S., the group's website reflects only a small part of what its membership does. Local support meetings take place once a week, for example, often potluck events with guest speakers and discussions.

"It's a chance for us to casually get together and a lot of fun," Mattox says. She adds that Mocha Moms' website "supports the in-person activities," so the organization is not purely an online one.

Likewise, Hone says some of the members of Just Mommies also belong to traditional mothers' groups. But she points out that one of the advantages of an online community is access to virtually instantaneous advice and support.

"I know we have a lot of moms on our site that go to both [online and local groups]," Hone says. "I think some of the differences [are] that in the online communities, you can get on there every day. If there is something you want to talk about right this minute, you have a limited amount of time to talk to each other. I think people have tighter friendships because you can communicate whenever you want [online]."

Are online-only groups missing some of the face-to-face contact that traditional mothers' groups provided? Perhaps, but there is a lot to be said about the convenience of online discussion during today's busy times.

Martin says communicating with other mothers online is more relaxing for her than hosting an in-person group because, "sometimes it's nice to just read a little word of encouragement or receive some much needed advice about toilet training — as well as returning these good gestures — rather than preparing coffee and tidying up for company."

Hone agrees that internet-based groups like Just Mommies offer a lot of convenience. "You don't have to pack everything up — you can talk when you want."

And online, it's often much easier to find people with similar concerns and issues to your own, such as parents looking for advice about dealing with specific behavioural issues or physical conditions.

"You have a bigger pool to reach from [online], to network with people who know exactly what you are dealing with," Hone says.

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