'The goal is to break loneliness': Creator of social app for moms makes Saskatoon stop

A hard-to-miss pink RV was making the rounds in Saskatoon Tuesday.

Inside was Social.Mom creator Audrey Poulin and her family. She's making stops across Canada to promote her social networking app, which aims to help mothers connect with each other in real life.

"When I was on my maternity leave, I wanted to connect with other moms around," said Poulin.

"We're very connected as millennial moms but we don't have real friends we can share with face-to-face."

Poulin's fledgling social media platform takes steps to confirm a user's identity and provide access only to mothers.

The exclusivity is intended to make Social.Mom an inviting online space for moms to meet one another.

"So you see the mom, the age of the kids, if it's a girl or a boy and how many kids they have. The goal is to break loneliness, to connect with other moms," said Poulin.

Mom meet-up

While she was in the city, Poulin organized an afternoon mom meet-up at Kinsmen Park, with mothers stopping by to learn more about the social network. 

Erin McCrea, who has a one-year-old son, said she sees a lot of merit in the idea.

"When you only have your kid to talk to all day — I mean, it's great, he's awesome — but you need to be social and get out there and meet people," said McCrea.

Siobhan Pratt, who has a 10-month-old girl, also attended by the event. 

"To be able to be around moms who know what it feels like [being a mom], or even just for a break [for] human-to-human contact that's not a child, is great," said Pratt.