‘Mommy Blogger’ Claims Site Ruined Her Life, Goes on GMA to Explain Choice to Leave Spotlight

Juju Chang brought us a story this morning on Good Morning America that is surely a sign of the times if ever there was one, friends.

She profiled former “mommy blogger” and head honcho of The American Mama, Josi Denise. She got fed up with posting photos that she felt didn’t accurately represent her family life, even though some posts netted her $1,500, so she wrote quite the kiss-off post about breaking up with blogging.

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She blew the lid off of the crock pot, honestly, cluing her readers into every tiny part of what mommy blogging is really all about. She didn’t hold back, saying that even when her kids were unhappy, she forced them to smile for photos so they could promote brands online. Then, she went on GMA to drive her point home.

For the counterpoint, Chang featured Ericka Souter, the editor of mom.me. Souter brushed off Denise’s claims, saying that insincerity is not specific to mommy blogging. Rather, she said, it is just part of the current cultural trend of only posting the best parts of our lives on our social media channels.

It’s fascinating to get a behind-the-scenes look at the personal blogging industry, yes, but as was the case with Essena O’Neill, the girl who “quit Instagram” a few months ago, the whole thing is muddied by the fact that Denise signed off with a blog post and is doing television appearances now. After O’Neill redid the captions on all of her Instagram photos, she did countless interviews and marketed herself as someone who was above faking happiness in a photo for product endorsement. As a result, she got way more attention and clicks.

Best of luck to Denise, who seems to be at relative peace, if her GMA appearance is anything to go off of.

[image via screengrab]

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