Bifhsgo

Social Networking and Genealogy
Marian Press
BIFHSGO March 12, 2011

What is Social Networking?
“Interaction between a group of people who share a common interest.” (Wictionary)
Different kinds of social networking online, some using new web technologies
some non-genealogical but used by genealogists
some developed specifically with genealogists in mind

Why Social Network?
Anything that helps build more family history contacts good
Genealogists “do” collaboration well
Social networking isn’t new
Earlier form – mailing lists and message boards
Rootsweb mailing lists; Ancestry message boards
Still active, still useful
Have been enhanced by modern technology: e.g., Google searches posts on message boards

What Will Be Discussed Today
Blogs and wikis
Social networking sites genealogists can take advantage of
Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Delicious
Traditional genealogy sites that have added social networking features
Ancestry, Footnote, Genes Reunited, Lost Cousins, FamilyRelatives.com, FamilySearch.org
Social Networking Sites Designed for Genealogists
GenealogyWise, Geni.com, WikiTree

The Technology Around Social Networking
Web 2.0: Second generation of the web
Collaborative, dynamic, open, social, content created by users
Tags - keyword(s) describing photos, etc.
RSS - lets you know when a web page is updated

Flickr – Photo Sharinghttp://www.flickr.com/
Photosharing - just what it sounds like
Individuals and organizations share photos
e.g, National Library of Scotland
Photos can be made public or private
Can add “tags” to help others find your content and contact you
Find pictures of ancestral villages, churches, etc.
Very effective photo back-up system

Social Bookmarking
Delicious (www.delicious.com)
store & share your favourite web bookmarks
find others bookmarking similar sites
GenealoGee.com (www.genealogee.com)
share blog posts, articles and news
genealogy and family history specific

Blogs
Probably the most well known and most used by genealogists
Chronologically-arranged web pages
Genealogists use for news/updates and sharing family research
Easy to read: Google Reader, iGoogle, Bloglines
Easy to build: Blogger
Easy to find: Genealogy Blog Finder

Building Your Own Family Blog
Very easy to do using a site like Blogger
www.blogger.com
Think of a blog as possible substitute for web site
Don’t have to wait till your family research is complete to build it
Very useful way to keep family up-to-date on what you are doing

Twitter: www.twitter.com
A free social networking and micro-blogging service
Exchange quick, frequent messages called “tweets”
140 characters maximum
“Tweet” can be used to advertise and lead to a blog posting, archives’ activities, etc.
Can search for a word being tweeted –use a hash tag (#) for real relevance
Genealogists, archives, and libraries are here
Recently much tweeting from Rootstech 2011

Wikis
A web site that allows users to add and edit content collectively
Wiki is the Hawaiian word for “fast”
Can create you own wiki or contribute to an established wiki
If you don’t like anyone changing/editing your work, maybe not for you!

Types of Wikis
Informational wikis
general subject wikis – like Wikipedia: www.wikipedia.org
general genealogical wikis
subject/society wikis
GEDCOM wikis
Personal family wikis

Genealogy Wikis
wiki.familysearch.org
yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk

WeRelateWiki:www.werelate.org
Sponsored by Foundation for On-Line Genealogy, Inc. and Allen County Public Library
Uses wiki technology to build collaborative family trees
Can build a page for each ancestor
Can create profile, upload GEDCOMs
A wiki page built for each family member and a family page for each family
Need an account to Edit pages

Wikitree: www.wikitree.com
Begun in 2008 by Chris Whitten (creator of WikiAnswers)
Very similar to WeRelate
Wiki page created for each person
Need to get permission from “profile manager” for each person to make changes
Theory is to have one wiki profile page for each ancestor in the world

“Hard-Core” Social Networking
Facebook (www.facebook.com)
Genealogywise(www.genealogywise.com)
new specialized genealogy social networking site, recently purchased by National Institute for Genealogical Studies

Facebookwww. facebook.com
A social networking site – 585 million users
High rate of Canadian participation
U.K. second highest users after U.S.
Genealogy really taking off in Facebook
family tree applications
genealogy society and interest groups
library groups and catalogue applications
can look for unusual surnames

Social/Collaborative Tree Building
Allow groups to build trees together
Searchable so others can find you
Some emphasize tree building; some collaboration and networking
Have privacy controls
Numbers of different sites growing fast
Advertise huge numbers of trees/individuals
Most still in “beta” – many have shut down
Very U.S. centric to date

Collaborative Tree Sites
www.geni.com
www.treex.com
www.genetree.com
www.arcalife.com

Traditional Genealogy Sites with Social Networking Features
Most successful so far are the “hubs” or “magnets” for genealogists
Databases and other records provide added value
Are rapidly adding networking features for family trees and for records
Ancestry, Footnote, GenesReunited, etc.

Finding Out More

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