Motherhood #1 Trigger for Social Media Use

BabyCenter just released the results of a fascinating new study that dug deep into the kinds of moms who are involved in social media, how and why they spend their time there, and - most importantly for marketers - their varying levels of influence.  I'd like to share their findings, in two parts.

First, a summary of key messages:

• Motherhood is the #1 reason for social media usage.  According to the research, pregnancy and birth motivated the vast majority of mothers in social media -  94% - to seek out information and share opinions with others online.
• Just 18% of social moms wield an astonishing 78% of the overall influence.
• Mom bloggers - as compared with all moms in social media  - make up 16% of the audience but are responsible for a huge percentage - 67% - of the influence.
• Not surprisingly, moms use different social sites for different reasons, from socializing to gathering information.

Moms, what motivated you to get involved in social media? What do you use it for? Where do you like to go, and why? Marketers, how do these findings impact your plans for reaching moms through social media?

For more on the BabyCenter "2010 Mom Social Influencer Report"  visit here. or check out tomorrow's post for more on the subject.