Parenting and Email Marketing

Today in class we talked about email as a social medium. Professor Kagan talked about a project he worked on with an un-named baby formula company. I found this example particularly interesting because like many first-time parents I'm especially keen to issues/technology that concern children. I would consider myself a frequent email checker but not necessarily a frequent email reader. However all that changed with the birth of my daughter - I'm not reading all of my emails but I am reading those "parent specific" emails and it seems as though the more I read/click the better next weeks' newsletter becomes. That all makes sense now that I attended class today. I signed up to a number of parenting sites with just basic information - email addy and due date. I continue to receive email updates and information that targets the point or situation I find myself in with my daughter. It is amazing. Headlines like "How soon will your child walk?" or "When is the right time to have another?". I love it - I'm obsessed but I see how my decisions and selections gave permission to the email marketing powers that be to continue to email me poignant information.