Babybook
By raincoaster
Because this is what the universe really needed. Oh, yes it did.
To fill up the precious, precious time left over from taking care of your house (if any) your family (if any) your job (if any) and your social life (if any) the little elves of Silicon Valley have now produced a social networking site specifically for the progesterone crowd. Because it’s a well-known scientific fact that the state of pregnancy is so mind-altering that one loses all ability to or interest in conversing with the non-pregnant, suffering a sort of temporary hormone poisoning of the brain in preparation for the nonintellectual tasks of diaper changing and breastfeeding. I refer you to the Law of Parent/Child IQ Equivalence, which states that when a baby is born the IQ of its parents drops to that of the child, since any normally intellectual person would go raving mad if s/he had to converse about the texture of poop and the semiotics of Playmobil toys 24/7. So naturally someone thought there was money to be made there, and built a walled compound to contain those conversations and keep them out of the mainstream.
Yes, it’s Facebook for preggos, and it’s called Babble Playground.
Babble. Ah, the power of metaphor.
March 21st, 2008 at 5:06 am
Seriously, nobody else minds the idea that you’re not Facebook-ready if you’re sperminated?
March 21st, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I guess I don’t see how it’s all that different from any other interest-specific BBS. Looking at their site, I don’t see any suggestion at all that you’re not “fit” for other social networking sites if you’re pregnant, just that if you are interested in joining a parenting community online, here one is. Babble Online Magazine seems to be looking for a way to keep their readers on the site longer, so they can show them more links to articles and ads.
I suspect that this isn’t, strictly speaking, necessary - I’d assume there are communities on Facebook (or LiveJournal, or MySpace, or wherever) already dedicated to parenting. But it’s the Internet. “Necessary” doesn’t really enter into it.
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:00 am
I totally agree with you that it’s just a way to keep people on the site. I’m just extra-sensitive to the idea that breeders have something to say which the universe at large doesn’t want to facilitate. It’s like being a parent isn’t normal.