I have started interviewing the authors of some of the blogs I have been following.  The story behind the stories they post is fascinating and the mothers I’ve interviewed have been incredibly thoughtful about their blogging experiences and the changes they’ve observed in their own blogs and in the larger blog-o-sphere.  Here are some of the questions I have been asking.  If you are reading this, and you are a blogging mother of an autistic child, I’d love to connect with you (phone, skype, email, whatever is convenient)!  Please see “contact” for information on how to get in touch.

  1. How did your blog get started? What were some of your reasons for starting the blog?
  2. Have those reasons changed as you’ve continued? If so, how did that come about?
  3. Has your blog changed over time? If so, what are some of those changes and how did they come about?
  4. Have you found any challenges in writing about your everyday life on the blog? How have you dealt with those challenges?
  5. Are there challenges writing about your children? Your spouse or partner? Other people? How have you dealt with those challenges? Do they read your blog?
  6. Has writing the blog changed your views about mothering? About autism?
  7. What have been benefits of blogging? Were these benefits that you expected or have there been surprises?
  8. Have you formed relationships with others through blogging? If so, are those relationships carried on through the blog alone or have you also interacted in other ways (e.g., through email, meeting face-to-face)?
  9. Have there been disadvantages or risks to blogging? Have you had any negative or hostile reactions? How have you dealt with those?
  10. Are there some topic areas that you won’t write about? How have you made decisions about what not to write?
  11. How would you characterize your readers? Who is the audience for your blog? Has that changed? Does it affect how or what you write?
  12. Is your blog related to other social media such as Twitter or Facebook? If so, how are they related (e.g., do you write about different things in different platforms? Do you have different audiences?)  How did your participation in these different media come about (e.g., which came first, how did you decide to participate in other media)?
  13. What have you learned about blogging? Would you advise others to take up blogging?
  14. We’ve talked about how your blog may have changed over time. Have you noticed changes in the larger world of blogging?  For example, has initial enthusiasm and participation leveled off? Do people write differently or participate differently now?
  15. Are there other blog authors you would recommend that I contact for an interview?
  16. Do you have any questions for me or anything you would like to add?