Facebook (FB so I don’t have to type it a thousand times in this blog) to me was a big waste of time. I don’t need to know what all my friends and family are doing 24/7. I suppose I got roped in a little when the grandchildren began to arrive. Who can resist that?? Or, worse, who wants to get caught NOT seeing “that” pic or “that” video….Not me!
Facebook logo Español: Logotipo de Facebook Français : Logo de Facebook Tiếng Việt: Logo Facebook (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In addition to the social mania of social media, there are really a lot of FB pages that are pretty interesting, at least from a genealogical point of view. FB is rife with useful stuff. Who knew! So I began following a few, especially the pages of the organizations to which I belong: “New England Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists,” “Massachusetts Society of Genealogists,” “Haplogroup Rib” (What the heck is THAT), “Autosomal DNA” and the list goes on.
Not only did I get involved in all these pages, I actually contribute! Yes, I have opinions….can you believe it? So, I thought that the world would be a better place if I started my own genealogically oriented FB page. It’s called “Find-A-Grave Genealogy Discussion.” Brilliant, right?
Roy, Thomas & Mary A. (Photo credit: WillynWV)
Well, we loped along for several months with 100 or so members who exchanged questions and answers and stories and problems and so forth. Suddenly in February, I was receiving 3, 4, 5 requests a day to join. That billowed in to 8, 9, 10 a day. We’re now at 1,249 members. Scratch that, the number is 1,256…
So, maybe it’s worth a look. People ask questions about Find A Grave, genealogy in general, how to handle difficult research problems….whatever! The only thing I don’t tolerate is negativity. Right after the page began to blossom, one of the members was waging a battle with some other member who “done her wrong!” Well, that lasted about a day. Now they’re both deleted and blocked.
Recommended Genealogy Websites (Photo credit: brizzle born and bred)
Take a look: Find A Grave Genealogy Discussion
In the meantime, Bruce Cortis who is a friend and a member of some of the organizations I belong to, started a FB page of his own: Genealogy - Improving your searches.
There’s been a lot of people who say they've benefited from the posts and many others who have offered help.
Facebook…it’s a good thing!
FB has its drawbacks as you noted in the beginning of your article - but it has been quite useful to me as a mechanism to track down possible "cousins" and try to connect with them. It also can be quite useful in discovering a woman's maiden names. Like most things one has to take the "bad" with the "good"
ReplyDeleteGreat point regarding maiden names. I always include them when I have them. Even "nicknames." I have no problem with someone asking me to add information to a memorial I've put up...as long as I have reasonable proof that the data is accurate! And I always verify. If I can't be confident that the data is good, I send a note and ask for clarification. Thanks for the comment!
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