The concept

I've always loved to give advice, but asking for it is another thing.

When I was growing up, I would rather have asked a complete stranger on the street their advice than ask my parents - on basically any subject: school, career, friendship, love, meaning of life. They were both really smart - PhD. smart - but I was sure they wouldn't "get" it or that they'd judge me, or whatever. That may not a be universal feeling; I have many friends who say their mom or their dad is their best friend. But I think the view I held back in my teens and early 20s is the more common one.

Now my stepdaughter is making plans to head off to college in the fall, and that's gotten me thinking: Who will she turn to for advice if she doesn't want to ask her dad, her mom, her stepdad or me? And will she find people who give her good advice?

That got me thinking of how many thousands of college students out there would probably love to ask a mom's advice --- but maybe not their mom's. I'd like to see whether there's a market (and maybe there is - and maybe it's already oversaturated?) for a Web site that's an advice column targeting young adults, written by moms of young adults. Maybe just me. Maybe me and a couple friends. Maybe a panel with a few moms and a few dads and the advice seekers could choose who they wanted to ask, or could ask for multiple answers and compare them. Maybe we'd bring in expert panels....

I've told my stepdaughter I'd like her help in thinking this through. I'd love your help too. And I plan to use this blog to collect string for my research. What online advice sites targeting college students or young people are out there? What's there a need for? Or is this a lame idea. I have a few projects I'm interested in pursuing and this is just one. So for now I'm in a testing-the-waters mode.