Courtesy photo of East Texas Moms Blog

Melissa McTee, mmctee@tylerpaper.com

When social media took off and communication in our society turned from face-to-face conversations into quick convenient online messages or texts, the social life of humans changed in a significant way.

Options such as Twitter (140 character limit), Instagram (photos with minimal words), Facebook and Snapchat make keeping up with and communicating with friends and family easy. But it makes relationships harder.

East Texas Moms Blog Founder Beth Bills said the problem wasn’t the ability to communicate but the level and depth of communication. 

“I need that social interaction – it’s different in person than behind a computer screen,” Mrs. Bills said. “I felt the need to start this blog site to help like-minded women meet and start communicating through events face to face.”

The mom blogger founded www.Easttexasmomsblog.com in January. Since then, she has recruited 15 mom volunteers who add content to the site.

“These are moms of all different ages and different stages of life that contribute,” Mrs. Bills said. “They write about things like pregnancy to life with toddlers, and I have a single mom that contributes as well. It’s a wide range of women that write about humorous topics to daily life.”

In addition to sharing her story with the Tyler Morning Telegraph, Mrs. Bills also will be a featured speaker at the newspaper-sponsored East Texas Digital Talks event on April 20, where she will be a part of a panel discussion focused on creating engaging online content.

She will offer information on how to write relevant blog and website content, and will be featured alongside local podcasters Traci Dixon and Rachel Renfrow, who will talk about their “Story Cast” podcast and the audio content they create geared toward women. 

East Texans can sign up to attend East Texas Digital Talks at www.etxdigitaltalks.com. 

In addition to providing relevant content to help East Texas moms, East Texas Moms Blog also facilitates events to give women a chance to interact in person. One such event geared to new and expectant mothers is set for 9 a.m. to noon May 6 in the Wisenbaker Conference Center, 800 E Dawson Street in Tyler.

The event will feature brunch, presentations with expert panelists, vendors and giveaways.

“We always welcome moms in all seasons of their motherhood journey. This event will be focused toward new and expectant moms, and we would love to welcome foster and adoptive moms as well,” she said. 

For more information on the blog site or to purchase tickets to Bloom visit www.eastetxasmomsblog.com