What happens when two longtime, old school bloggers reminisce about the good old days of blogging? You get laughs, reflections, and a deep dive into the intricate dynamics of the blogging community from the early days to today. I’m joined by my friend and star blogger, Jill Smokler, founder of Scary Mommy, as we delve into our shared experiences of the blogging world and the friendships we made online “way back when.”
We discussed the thrill of the first comment, the pressure to produce daily content, and the intimate connections we made with readers and other bloggers. We covered meeting online friends in person, online friendships that drifted apart, and the jealousy and competition that sometimes entered the equation,
Jill and I reflected on the significance of our blogging relationships, expressing gratitude for the friends we made along the way.
FIND EPISODE #64 ANYWHERE YOU LISTEN TO PODCASTS!
Signup for my newsletter on friendship, books, TV, and more.
Meet Jill Smokler
Jill Smokler is a New York Times bestselling author and entrepreneur who became an authentic voice for millions of imperfect moms through her Webby award winning blog, Scary Mommy. Launched in 2008, Scary Mommy began as a chronicle of Jill’s stay-at-home days with her children and quickly transformed into a vibrant community of women brought together by a common theme — parenting doesn’t have to be perfect.
Over the next eight years, Jill and her team provided the destination for high quality, humorous, sharable parenting content. In 2015 with millions of followers, three books and the top parenting site in the country, Jill became the first “mommy blogger” to sell her brand to a media company. After three years acting as Chief Content Officer, Jill departed in 2018. Following a much needed break, Jill returns with She’s Got Issues – a brand for Gen X women focusing on the myriad issues uniting them.
Forbes Magazine named Jill a Top Ten Parenting Influencer and she has been a featured guest on The Today Show, Good Morning America, Nightline, Fox and Friends and countless other media outlets. Jill is also a frequent guest speaker at a variety of media and women-centric conferences and events.
Find Jill on Instagram and Tiktok!
Guest voice mails and emails:
Thank you to Andrea Scher, Deborah Gilboa, Ruchi Koval, and Rivki Silver for letting me use your thoughts in the episode. Thank you to many more old-school bloggers who wrote to me! I’m sorry I couldn’t use every note in the episode. I loved reading everyone’s memories.
Topics We Covered:
- Terms that were once completely new to use like “side bar,” “button,” “footer,” etc.
- The effort it took to create and edit a post, find or make graphics
- The evolution from no comments, to many comments, to everything moving to social media
- The term ‘mommy blogger’, and how Jill’s blog, Scary Mommy, began then grew
- Feeling left out of certain blogging circles
- The jealousy and competition that sometimes occurred in the blogging world
- Blogging conferences
- Our experiences with the Triberr trend (Nina detested it) and informal agreements to share others’ posts
- The beauty of the friendships formed through blogging
- The good and sometimes “meh” feelings of meeting online friends in person
Let’s connect!
- Here’s my Substack newsletter about friendship & more
- Instagram, TikTok, Twitter
- JOIN the Dear Nina Facebook group
- Ask an anonymous question
If you like what you’re hearing, please tell a friend!
Also, if you can rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, I’d be so grateful.
Latest posts by Nina Badzin (see all)
- Dear Nina in The Guardian - May 1, 2024
- Overtalking, Undertalking, and Lessons for Friendships in the Art of Storytelling - April 30, 2024
- Dear Nina in The Wall Street Journal - April 27, 2024
- 5 Friendship Issues to Consider Addressing with a Therapist - April 17, 2024
