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Diaperbook.com

Twitter from the Cradle in today's New York Times, editorializing mine:

"A host of new sites, including Totspot, Odadeo, Lil'Grams and Kidmondo, now offer parents a chance to forgo the e-mail blasts of, say, their newborn's first trip home [yes! no more "I've shared photos at the Gallery"] and instead invite friends and family to join and contribute to a network geared to connecting them to the baby [what?] in their lives."

I have the same problem with this as I do with sites like Dogster. It's not about the baby--it's about the parents. It's not like my friends and relatives are going to set up Totspot accounts; they're going to create ersatz online identities for their kids (those who have kids) and role-play. And that's where it loses me.

I could, for example, make a Totspot page for Nate, or create a linkroll on his site to Stella and Mack and Olivia, et al. But what does it mean when Nate doesn't even know the dog's name yet, much less his "friends"? Or that he hasn't even met Stella in person?

I love my son's baby blog. It is already a great keepsake and chronicle of his early life. As for the social network, I'll let him forge that for himself.

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The Ideapad debuted on November 1, 1998 and has been through numerous incarnations through the years. It is now a weblog and personal journal.
Once upon a time I wrote Usability: The Site Speaks for Itself (Publisher's page / Amazon.com)
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