Online Word-of-Moms as Communal Social Acts: Producing Motherhood Culture via Collective and Collaborative Word-of-Mouth Conversations
43 Pages Posted: 27 Jun 2012 Last revised: 17 Dec 2013
Date Written: June 26, 2012
Abstract
This netnography of word-of-mouth (WOM) conversations in a popular motherhood online-community emphasizes the relational and communal nature of WOM. Based on an ethnomethodological analysis of WOM conversations, we show that word-of-moms conversations are social acts: collective achievements emerging from the collaborative work of participating mothers who monitor on-going WOM interactions in order to determine and design their possible involvement. This analysis of the dynamics of WOM conversations in motherhood forums not only informs how consumption-related discussions produce notions of motherhood, childhood and family; but it also enables a new conceptualization of WOM as a consumer activity undertaken in relational terms and for relational ends. We show that WOM conversations are part of complex cultural activities and community trajectories, and that the rhetorical methods used by the participating women make sense in relation to these specific contexts. Specifically, we demonstrate that contrary to dyadic WOM conversations, in a community WOM setting, possible rhetorical practices and outcomes are diverse, flexible, and multidirectional.
Keywords: word-of mouth, online communities, consumer activity, motherhood, rhetorical practices
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