Status Update: Baby on Board - Social Media Tips for New Parents
By: Danica Kombol
4 Tips for Announcing your Baby via Social Media
We have our first official Everywhere baby in Jacob Schmidt born to Liz our Digital PR and Research Manager, based in Portland. Understand that I’m a really old mom by my office’s standards. In fact, I had a kid who had to walk six miles to school every day! Well, not exactly but I do have a kid who just graduated from college.
When I had my first child, there were no texts to alert friends that a baby is coming, no Facebooks to update with photos of the baby fresh from the womb and no blogs to highlight young junior’s every exploit. In fact, when I gave birth to my daughter, Thea, I went into Bergdorf Goodman in New York City and ordered engraved birth announcements. I still have the engraved plate to prove it. In the end, I think I sent out about 100 announcements and I practically had to rob a bank to pay for them.
Each announcement had a deep red bow tied to the top and the envelopes were lined in a matching deep red color. Imagine the money I could have saved by posting a photo of her little squished up face on Facebook.
I’m glad our Liz, who lives and breathes social media is showing some restraint. After all, the baby has been on this planet for a good six hours and she still has not updated her status. Which got me to thinking, new parents might need some guidelines from old-school parents on the how-to of what to do on social sites when you give birth.
- Facebook may be swell, but printed announcements are sweller. I’m no Emily Post but there is something really sweet about good old-fashioned announcements. I like the on-line vendor Tiny Prints http://www.tinyprints.com - they have chic, tasteful styles and you won’t have to rob a bank the way I did. Not to be greedy or anything, but a 3” x 5” piece of printed paper with your baby’s name and/or photo has a desirable effect: it spurs the gift-giving gene in family and friends.
- Cut the umbilical cord before you post your status update. Birth is an intimate experience, you really should be in the room, in the moment, giving birth, not giving a blow-by-blow on Twitter and Facebook to family and friends. Oh and that umbilical cord? These are details and photos we don’t need to see. Show restraint and please don’t share bodily fluids, or stray body parts, period.
- Yes your baby is adorable, but… Yes, your baby is the cutest wootest widdle thing on the planet and we want to know you gave birth, but we also want to make sure your brain did not go down the drain with the placenta. Adorable baby sharing is acceptable. Sharing about poop, guttural noises and baby’s latest drool is not. Show us you still have interest in the greater world. Don’t use Facebook as your EVERYTHING MY BABY EVER DID OR DROOLED ON photo album.
And last but not least.
- Start a blog! Why? Because there simply aren’t enough mommy blogs in the world! Well, that’s not true. There are enough, but it’s still a brave new world and who knows, you may make it big. You could go to BlogHer! There’s still room. And brands might even send you cool stuff like baby bottles and strollers. Or not. But at least you’ll have a blog!
Danica,
Great advice. A few confessions:
1. After I finally asked for an epidural after realizing there are no medals presented for natural childbirth, I felt the sweet relief of modern medicine and immediately grabbed my phone and texted a few good friends to tell them where I was. I was due a full week later and they didn’t know I was in the hospital.
2. I updated my facebook status only two hours after childbirth. I was so excited to reveal the gender of our baby since we didn’t know what we were having!
One additional tip: think about joining (or ask a friend to add you) to a social media group for new moms. I am in a “fabulous new moms” private facebook group and I can’t tell you how often- especially while at home on maternity leave- I have consulted this group to get tips, advice and empathy from other women whose worlds are rocked by a mere 6 lb being. Also its an outlet that keeps you from looking cray-cray within your public facebook status updates.
I think updating Facebook two hours after childbirth is totally reasonable. It’s the equivalent of putting a sign in the yard, “It’s a girl!”
Danica:
You are bringing back a lot of wonderful and terrifying memories! In fact I think I found a box of those damn Bergdorf announcements a few weeks ago…
David
Well that’s one thing that does not exist in the cloud!
Absolutely love this post… and your tip on cutting the umbilical cord before making your status update — so perfect! I put my hubby on Facebook duty and text message duty.