Digitally-Mediated Mothering: An Ethnography of Health and Parenting Groups on Facebook

Abstract

Research over the last several decades offers clear evidence that mothers experience considerable pressure in carrying out the expectations of contemporary mothering, including expanded responsibilities relating to child and family health (Hays, 1996; Wolf, 2013). While we know that these pressures produce negative impacts, we know less about the strategies and tools mothers use to cope with these anxieties as they try to "do it right" (Villalobos, 2014). At the same time, research suggests that mothering is increasingly digitally-embedded, as mothers look to the internet and social media for information and support (Schoppe-Sullivan et al., 2017). This study thus explores how mothers use Facebook groups to inform health and parenting decisions. Drawing on data generated through a digital ethnography incorporating 18 months of participant observation, discourse analysis, and interviews with 29 mothers across two sets of divergent, specialized sets of Facebook groups (focusing on “evidence-based” and “natural” health and parenting), I advance three key, interconnected arguments. First, I apply theories of boundaries and boundary-work to show how specialized Facebook groups become persuasive ideological spaces for mothers who seek certainty around their healthcare beliefs and decisions. Next, I apply the concept of echo chambers to argue that mothers involved with these specialized Facebook groups engage in siloed health learning that shapes health beliefs, decisions, and even conversations with healthcare providers. Finally, I show how mothers engage in a form of digitally-mediated emotion management by turning Facebook groups that confirm their parenting ideology in order to alleviate anxieties associated with neoliberalism and individualist parenting, and to feel better about their maternal performance. I ultimately conclude that the turn to digital platforms for certainty, reassurance, and good feelings is both a logical expression and a reflection of the latest wave of maternal responsibilization.