What was the purchase price?

It’s obvious that access to the mom segment is pretty high value to guys like J&J;.  Probably it’s cheaper to just buy the social networking site rather than pay for advertising on the site.

Congratulations to ... Maya’s Mom.  I met her at a Mashup Camp just before the launch, and she did a wonderful job of turning an idea into a social media company.

Kudos to Maya’s Mom! 

It’s really great to see this as a validation of the marketplace and as a recognition of the fast-growing and important audience of active moms online.

As a mom and the co-founder of MothersClick, we launched our site only a few weeks before MM and it’s definitely been an exciting journey to build an idea from concept to reality.

We look forward to more activity and developments within the space.

Congrats to MM (and softtech and all the investors) - I think J&J;were very wise to buy MM and use the tech accross their other sites.

As a co-founder in Minti (http://www.minti.com) which launched in Mar 2006 we (like Andra above) too have had an exciting journey in this personally rewarding parenting space, and look forward to the adventures ahead.

Congratulations to Ann and company.  I was surprised at how fast the company was purchased.

As the founder of eFamily.com, I am excited to participate in a growing industry with large companies validating the space.

Good luck to everyone!

I for one hate the acquistion. The change is hated by many, many moms on babycenter.  We liked the format we have now better. You can check it out at babycenter.com

We, at Babycenter, hate the new look they are doing.  We liked the old babycenter better.  We were all so close there.  When they switch to the new site, Babycenter is going to lose a lot of business!

The new babycenter is horrible.  If they go through with this change, they will lose a TON of members.  It is a shame they are trying to fix what wasn’t broken.  Very sad.

I agree! I am a member of BBC and love it the way it is now. I was invited to preview the new site and HATE IT! Let me say it again…..I HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT!  Do all you BBC big wigs get my drift?!? I hope this new format doesn’t work out and they stick with what they have now. If only you folks realized how many moms you will be losing. That is money down the porcelin pee-hole (toilet)!
Ok now I feel better.

I hate the new changes to BBC too….ALL of the lady’s I talk to on BBC hate it! BBC’s ship has sprung a leak and because Tina Sharkey and the rest of J&J;don’t know how to listen it’s going to sink fast! J&J;has just shown once again that they do NOT care one bit about the vast majority of their customers, not only are they going to lose some of us on BBC but they are also losing our money….I for one, due to the lack of respect shown to customers, will NOT be buying ANY J&J;products any more. Sure my couple of hundred dollars a year wont hurt them but at least I will know I’m not funding this stupidity! I’m not the only one vowing this either…..THANK YOU FOR RUINING WHAT WE HAD TINA!

I, too, am a current member of BabyCenter and am quite ANGRY at this aquisition and change!  WE DON’T WANT ANOTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE!!!!  If we did, we’d use Maya’s Mom, Cafemom, Facebook, MySpace, etc!  BabyCenter/J&J;has abandoned their current members and I hope it just comes back and bites them in the butt! I, for one, will NOT being buying J&J;products.  I know I’m not the only one who’ll be boycotting if this change goes forward!

J&J;has made the biggest mistake and will be sorry in the end when all they have is a socal networking site with no active participants.  The BabyCenter *families* HATE the idea of change and are willing to boycott J&J;products and find new online sites to use.  J&J;didn’t consult with those that use their site and even now refuse to directly answer any questions or actually listen to what their members are saying.  The BabyCenter community manager is sidestepping every corner but trying to claim she is on the members side.

Purchasing a company for the sake of expanding your touch is one thing, but what has happened at Baby Center’s communities is an outrage.  I cannot recall ANY inquiries from the corporate office to the “little guys” your CUSTOMERS about changes they’d like to see happen.  There was no mention about possible change in format or what would be required from users.  I, for one, think the change was both unnecessary and most certainly a way to snub the existing users of Baby Center Community and chat boards.  Sure, facebook, MySpace, Cafe Mom, etc all have their place in online communities, but what set Baby Center apart from the rest was the ease of the forum use and not having to provide massive amounts of information about ourselves - locations, full names, board activity, etc.  The fact that no one was given even a courtesy ask about the change speaks VOLUMES!  This goes into the category of “I’m bigger than you, so I always get my way.  I do what I want!” It’s absolutely rotten.  The majority of the Baby Center users HATE the change, and are VERY angry with how the entire thing is being handled.

I know there will be members from Babycenter that will love the new format.  But so many members come/came to babycenter because the format that they had was different from everywhere else. 
Babycenter has one board for each topic (babies born in Aug 2003 for example) .  The other social networking sites can have hundreds of boards on the same topic, simply with different names.  With only having 1 board for each topic, you are able to get a much broader range of opinions and responses.  Although there are “cliques” within each board on babycenter,  those cliques are still involved in that specific board as a whole.  On the other sites, those cliques simply arrange their own board.
Obviously, whats done has been done and there is no changing that.  It is unfortunate that the owners of babycenter did not atleast warn its members that such a drastic change was coming.  I see babycenter loosing a large percentage of a very loyal following to either private spin off boards, or different sites with more easily navigated forums.
I certainly wish that Babycenter could at the very least incorporate the new forum style with the old.  Have an option at log in as to which style the member wishes to use.

I agree 100% with the fact that a majority of BBC members are NOT happy with the change.

Many BBC members have been outraged at the talk of a new format. After hearing about what changes were rumored, I though ICK. After seeing Maya’s Mom I hate it. If I had WANTED the Maya’s mom format I would have joined Maya’s Mom. It’s confusing and cluttered. Utter chaos and I will sincerely miss all the chatter that is what makes BBC fun. BBC has made changes before but I think this crosses the line and while they may get new clueless mom’s had no idea what Good is will settle for this garbage.

Think of it this way - they are taking a regal, elegant modern woman and giving her a bad perm, polyester clothes from the 70’s, garish make-up and orange finger nail polish and passing her off as an improvement. Way to go BBC.

I’m with the unhappy members!

Joined BBC 7 years ago.  If the change continues to the new format then I too will leave :-(  Makes me sad.  I have been on my current board for over 3 years almost EVERYDAY.  The new format is just to cluttered.

It is interesting to me how many people pass judgment on the new site: 1. Before seeing it firsthand, and 2. Without giving it a little while to sink in. It is a little crazy right now, but it’s also still in the making. They just opened it up for preview less than 2 wks ago, for Heaven’s sake!

I think it is a great format. It definitely has a few kinks to work out, but that is their whole reason for having users test it out right now. I think it adds a wonderful sense of community to BabyCenter and once people really give it a try, they will definitely enjoy it too.

This is a very very big mistake. I am not alone when I say that babycenter/ J&J;has lost a customer in me.

I forgot to add that I have experienced the new format and it is a horrible design.

The problem with the new site is the mess in terms of proper threading of topics on the message boards, the lack of privacy, the tracking of where we post, the fact that you see everything on the board each time you log on.  It takes way too much time and I too will be leaving unless they keep the old bulletin board format.  Adding other features is fine with me.  I don’t have to use them.  However, most of us *older* folks have busy lives and don’t need to wade through such things.  I have a social network in real life.  I don’t need another one online (I actually have some online, but I don’t want more).  If I wanted MySpace (which, btw, has similar privacy problems and allows pedophiles to contact kids because of their own policies), I would be there.  I *have* a blog.  I *have* a photo site.  I don’t need more.  BBC was a place to come to share information about certain things including autism, atheism, sensory integration, speech and language and positive discipline.  By fracturing the boards instead of having one per topic, the whole point is lost. I don’t want a profile (BBC allowed you to not post anything in the profile.  The new site asked for my zip code when I was invited and logged on)  Sorry, I don’t want spam from anyone including Johnson and Johnson. 

Dorothy

My concern is the philosophical change which is taking place.  Right now Baby Center is a valuable resource with articles and boards on just about every subject a parent could need.  People can come here and read the articles, check out the boards, or shop at the store without having to sign in, log in, create a profile or do anything.  That sounds like a good idea from a web creators standpoint.  Don’t you want the most traffic possible for increased ad revenue?  For me Baby Center was the end all be all for parenting information.  I have directed countless friends to Baby Center for INFORMATION, not socialization. 

What they are doing is systematically changing that.  First by dismantling the current site, they are destroying the very stable community.  On each board, there are many members who are themselves resources of Baby Center.  When I was having trouble pumping with my first dd in 2004, I went to several sites trying to seek out help.  Baby Center was the only place that really helped me, where I could count on a response, where I could review the boards and see the same women answering questions over and over again demonstrating their expertise.

So, basically, they are taking the BEST online parenting resource and turning it into a message board.  It seems to me that Johnson and Johnson would have a lot more clout if it was the owner of the BEST online parenting resources.  Instead, they are now going to own 2 versions of Maya’s Mom with Maya’s Mom creator at the helm.  I just don’t see how that is appealing to them or how it maxmizes the revenue generating abilities of the site.  For example, I can go to Babycenter at work so I can look at ads, shop, post etc throughout the day.  I cannot go to Mayas Mom, Cafe Mom, Myspace or Facebook or several other message boards.  They are all blocked because they are messages boards.  That seems like a pretty big handicap for the former BEST online resource for parents. 

They may never realize this as a mistake.  I am sure many members will stick around on the new site; they’ll get used to it and maintain their online friendships.  However, that woman who always posts breastfeeding help didn’t stick around, or the woman who was always helping out new Moms on the infant sleeping board decided to leave and so their expertise is gone.  They won’t miss them and the hundreds like them.  And in a few months when the new site is filled with splintered private boards, many people won’t notice, but that doesn’t mean something hasn’t been lost.  This is the point you are missing.  This is the intangible thing that is being lost.  RIP Baby Center

Sarah

I am Very Happy For Baby Center!!!  I believe they have made a great choice!  Maya’s Mom is a warm and welcoming group of Women and Men.  They are ready to meet the needs of all who come in! 
Way to go Maya’s Mom and Baby Center!  Without change we are nothing! :)

~AMY

don’t you stupid idiots know that baby center gets paid for your information.  That is why the dilly ceo gets to call the site worth 500 million so she can get her kudo’s.  She is just too ugly for words.

I am new to the Baby Center site and would like some understanding
about the previous format. What were benefits of the previous format and how it worked compared to this new one? What have you found helpful at the Baby Center site? Thanks for your insight! Peggy

I dont like the new baby center very much.  I have tried it out, and have spent many hours on it.  My page is missing parts of the profile, you cant turn on/off your options due to “kinks”, when I search something it doesn’t bring up what I was searching…to sum it up, It is so full of bugs and kinks that it is barely tolerable!  I have such a hard time getting around on the site!

I guess it is just a matter of time before anyone gets used to it. The old one was indeed better.

Sorry.. still do not like the new BBC. Tried to use it again and only found it fustrating.  BBC is now off my list for places to go. It use to be my home page. There was a reason it won awards back in the day. Now its useless junk. The community boards were so much fun and I learned so many things from so many people.  Now its gone for no good reason. what a waste.

If BBC isn’t you gig or just simply want a smaller community which won’t sell you out, I invite you to take a look at coolerparents.com.  Our members consider it the “myspace for parents” and we’re not just about babies!

Rob@coolerparents

The new BBC is awful. The old format was easier to use and promoted moms helping each other, sharing information and supporting each other. Now it is unorganized, harder to use and an obvious ploy to edge in on the social network trend. Where it used to be unique and comfortable, now it is trendy and completely nonuser-friendly. I was a member of babycenter since 2004 and as far as I am concerned they might as well have deleted the whole site.