Isn’t it time parenting sites started telling the damn truth?!
Nothing about parenting is glamorous. It’s not pretty, perfect, or basically anything you see on 90% of the parenting sites online. So why are we ingesting this dribble? Why, if we are looking for people and situations that we can relate to and learn from, are we allowing these fake, staged, or completely photoshopped renditions of the truth continue to bask in the limelight?
I get it for advertising. Of course, I wouldn’t expect a supermarket to show me an ad of a spotted, half-ripened banana and expect me to a) swoon or b) run out and buy a browning fruit, but we are not selling parenting. We are helping parents to learn, find helpful tips and tricks, or maybe just share a common frustration through someone else’s stories of their son pissing in their face. It makes us feel better when we aren’t the only ones facing a troublesome time with our kids.
Parenting sites are visited a lot. A test Google search for “How do I become a better parent?” yields 1.6 billion results. That should say something. People want to know how to handle real life problems and situations. A similar search for “How can I make myself look like a better parent?” (sadly) returns about half that amount of results.
Consider how many people who aren’t in the “know” about Google search engine optimization that are finding doctored posts for the first 12 pages of their search when they are looking for honest advice on a particular parenting problem. Don’t they deserve more from this online community than modified truths that are geared toward gaining an advertising contract, some sort of kitchen appliance, or trip to Hawaii? I think so.
So what is the solution? There are many sites that have wonderful allure, but offer nothing in the way of true-to-life help or tips or they set unreachable standards. Many more sites offer great advice but are nothing to look at, thus turning people off. So the question is, which ones should we be looking for?
Tell us below what you think of your favorite parenting site. Why do you continue to visit it?
Taj Mahal and Leave it to Beaver pics retrieved via Google Image search under creative commons guidelines.
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