MS Thesis Defense

Analyzing Opinions in the Mom Community on Youtube

Morgan Madeira

2:00pm Wednesday, 30 June 2014, ITE 325b

The “Mom Community” on YouTube consists of a large group of parents that share their parenting beliefs and experiences to connect and share information with others. Although there is a lot of positive support in this community, it is often a hotspot for debate of controversial parenting topics. Many of these topics have one side that represents the belief of “crunchy” moms. Crunchy is a term used to describe parents that intentionally choose natural parenting methods and eco-friendly products to raise their children. Debate over these practices has led to “mompetition” and the idea that there is a right way to parent. This research investigates these claims such as how different crunchy topics are discussed and how the community has changed over time. Video comments and user data are collected from YouTube and used to understand parenting practices and opinions in the mom community.

Committee: Drs. Anupam Joshi (chair), Tim Finin, Karuna Joshi