ShePosts.com: Part Gawker, Part Mashable and all Mommy Blogosphere.

Today, at noon EST, ShePosts.com will launch. This online news destination will comprehensively cover "what’s happening in the Mommy Blogging world – from paid PR campaigns to drama with the New York Times. We’re embedded in the mom blogosphere and will share the scoop on the latest posts and events shaping the community. "

Founder Esther Crawford says that the site will include:

• Comprehensive coverage of major brand-blogger relationships
• Maintain a list of all current brand ambassador programs
• Create a ‘brand event’ list which shows who has attended private events hosted by major brands
• A complete calendar and map of related conferences, workshops and Twitter parties
• Coverage and follow-up of all popular conferences such as Blissdom, Mom 2.0 and BlogHer
  

Other things to note:

• On average, we’ll have 4-6 posts a day tracking the latest news + gossip covering the Mom Blogger community
• We’ll feature interviews with well-known mommy bloggers and providing their take on current events as well as hot-button issues such as monetization, privacy concerns, brand evangelism, and the future of the mommy blogging space. And we won’t be lobbing softballs in our interviews.

Last night, Esther was kind enough to answer a few light-hearted questions for me about the site.

What do you want ShePosts.com to be when it grows up?
As ShePosts grows up it'll include a lot more people - there are already a few well-known and loved women from the mom blogging community who are going to be joining the ranks as contributors in the coming weeks.

A lot of sites answer the easy questions like "What happened?", but ShePosts is also going to be a place to find out why it happened.

It'll be journalistic, but with a splash of gossip and irreverent snark thrown in because c'mon - this is the internet and we're living in the age of The Gosselins.

You’ve told us a little bit about what ShePosts.com is. Can you tell us what it isn’t?
ShePosts is not another community site singing "kum ba yah". Disagreements and drama are part of business, as is demonstrated on industry sites like TechCrunch and Mashable each day.

And let's be clear - mom blogging has become a business, which happens to be incredibly lucrative for a select few.

Think about this: major brands routinely fly out a dozen or more mom bloggers to get wined & dined in exchange for a few tweets and links.

While we'll be the first to congratulate folks who get it right, we're not afraid to get our hands dirty while reporting the news - which means calling companies or individuals out when they're involved in shady business.

At the end of the day we believe that accountability & recognition raises the bar, which is good for everyone.

If ShePosts were a cookie (no, silly, not the website tracking kind. The eating kind!), what kind of cookie would it be?
We aim to make ShePosts like Girl Scout thin mints, which are so addictive that you can't help going back for more.

If ShePosts were a Pandora station, what would play?
It'd play strong women who are deep yet know how to rock it. In other words, we'd have Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" on repeat.

It's important to know what you dislike and why.

Today My friend Cecily pointed me to a heated blogosphere discussion about a proposed week-long PR Blackout among mom bloggers.

Initially I guessed this proposed boycott was less of a "PR industry" boycott and more of a stand against consumerism. I can relate to desire to step away from consumerism. I'm not some pitchwoman who thinks everyone should buy, buy, buy.

However, after reading momdot's post, I see that's not the case. She feels that moms have many demands and blogging, initially adopted as a relief outlet, has become another demand in her life because PR people want to connect with her and get her feedback via blog posts/reviews.

Momdot also seems to want to read content by other bloggers that is solely passion driven and not influenced by any brands or paid partnerships.

I can relate to that. Heck, sometimes I even feel the same way.

What I disagree with, is the approach. Boycott, is a strong word and action. I tend to reserve a boycott for someone or something who has committed a heinous grievance against me or my moral code. I don't think a boycott is the answer to the problem of feeling overwhelmed or the way to shape content to be styled the way one person or group wants it styled. In fact, a boycott like this, is very close to a PR campaign of momdot's very own design. Touche, lady! ;)

Here are some alternative suggestions for momdot and the likeminded to find peace of mind:

• Create a badge or graphic and place it in your blog sidebar clearly stating "No PR Pitches"
• If you chose to accept PR pitches at another time, set up an email account just to receive those pitches. Clearly publish that email as "For PR contacts" in your "Contact" and "About" sections. This way, you can choose when to connect with PR people and when not to.
• Find new blogs to read that are solely "passion" blogs. There are plenty out there. For more "journal" type blogs, try LiveJournal.
  
• Take a break from blogging. Step back. Don't let the pressures of writing and having an audience overwhelm you. It's ok to take a break. This is your thing.
  You should enjoy it.

Should be interesting to follow this topic at Blogher next week!