Minti: Q & A for parenting – for Parents by Parents
Parenting is the toughest and most sensitive job humans ever had to handle. Go wrong anywhere and it could affect both the child and the parents deeply and incorrigibly. This is another one of those profitable niches on the Internet since parenting is a widely discussed topic online. It’s a topic with feverish questions followed by answers laced with compassion and experience coming from mothers and fathers who managed to do (and continue) to handle their parenting responsibilities. Establishing a Q &A site is a great idea. Minti just executed it and we have a Q & A site exclusively for parenting.
For once design takes a back seat
You know by know that this is the first weak spot I try to attack and for once, I have no comments. Not because the site is spell-bindingly beautiful , but it gets the job done remarkably well. For one, you know where you are when you land. The site gets to the point sharply and keeps it that way. However, I feel that most users on Minti won’t give two hoots for design. For them, it’s all about parenting. They need to know exactly what needs to be done when babies cry or when allergic reactions sprout up when babies/kids/teens eat something. Some babies don’t like to have milk and mothers worry about it endlessly. Do you think design takes importance on a site like that? I didn’t think so and hence I won’t comment much. However, Minti is a functional Q & A enough to get the job done and it isn’t as shabby as some of the other Q & A sites we reviewed earlier such as Dizzay.com.
Ask anonymously
After a long and a patient search for at least one Q & A website that allows you to ask questions without even signing-up, I think I found it here. Minti allows you to ask a question anonymously or by signing-up and asking as a member. Now, that’s a great thing to do for worried parents since the last thing they want to do is to fill up forms when babies, kids or teenagers cause them to worry so much.
The Tempting tag cloud
I find it pretty practical to keep the tag cloud right next to the “Ask a question” module. Browsing for the right kind of questions and answers just got a million times easier since all parents have to do is to see if any of the tags within the cloud is the area of concern. Are you a single parent trying hard to please your virulent teenager? Do you have disciplinary issues with your children? Want to know how to deal with rashes your baby developed? Relentlessly worried about suspected involvement of your children in substance abuse such as drugs and alcohol?
It’s a community; not just a Q &A
I was forced to think of it as a community thanks to the many other features on the site apart from just the questions and answers. There’s a photo section, a directory, a groups page, a humour page for families, a bulletin board, an experts section, top-rated advice and much more. Blogs and social media integration seems to be inconspicuously absent from the site given the trends of the day but we can let that pass.
Are you a parent looking for the right place to go to with anything concerning your kids? It looks like we just found it at Minti – powered by parents. What do you think about it?
