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When U.S. Air flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River, Gwen Poth wanted to be glued to the T.V. "We live in Charlotte, NC (where the plane was originally headed) and I knew there was a good chance we knew people on the plane - and it ended up that we did," she says. "But I didn't want to risk my 3- and 4-year olds seeing the plane on TV."

So she did what many moms are doing these days: She turned to Twitter (www.twitter.com) where she could follow the story, find news links and see the amazing photo of the passengers on the plane's wing. Through Twitter (as opposed to just going to an online news site), Poth was able to be in the virtual company of other moms as the whole country held its breath, waiting to learn the fate of the passengers - while she was also at home with her preschoolers.

"It's something I'm surprised people don't talk about more - the value of Twitter to moms who are very tied to the house because of their children but who want to still keep up on current events without scaring their kids with newscasts," says Poth.

If you're not already tweeting away, you're probably wondering... what exactly is Twitter? It's a free social-networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send and read other users' updates, known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters.

The digital back fence
Blogs, Facebook, Twitter... There are many ways for moms to connect these days that weren't even around when today's middle schoolers were born. (Boy, could I have used Twitter back then! Probably would have shared waaay too many adorable baby pics on Facebook, too.)

"Social media is raising the back fence for moms once again by giving them a place to commiserate, kvetch and compare notes - virtually," says Jen Singer, creator of MommaSaid.net and author of Stop Second Guessing Yourself - The Toddler Years (HCI, April 2009). The two-way nature of social media "combines the camaraderie of the local playground with the practicality of the community parenting class - minus the carpool," she adds.

Sometimes moms turn to social media to help their children - and in the process they help a lot of other families, too. Boston-area mom "Jennifer B.," who has two kids ages eight and five, started her blogs, Free to Enjoy Baseball - Peanut-Free and More (http://www.peanutfreebaseball.com) and Food Allergy Buzz (http://www.foodallergybuzz.com), because her youngest child is allergic to peanuts. She also co-founded the Facebook group You Don't Need Nuts to Fly with another food-allergy mom blogger.

On her blog, A Deaf Mom Shares Her World (http://deafmomworld.com), Karen Putz, a mom of three deaf and hard-of-hearing kids, has made friends all over the world, and has helped educate other parents about issues such as hearing-aid insurance coverage and coming out of what she calls the "deaf/hard-of-hearing closet."
 
There's a lot of trust that builds among moms on social media as the tweets fly, communities spring up around popular blogs and Facebook keeps us not only involved in favorite causes but keeps us in touch with other moms at times when we may be struggling to work (or these days, perhaps, to find a job), keep hearth and home together and have some family time.

For the rest of the story, pick up a FREE COPY of Pittsburgh Parent Magazine today!