{"id":888,"date":"2009-07-30T23:02:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-31T04:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/weekly-genealogy-blogging-prompt-30\/"},"modified":"2013-07-11T18:44:38","modified_gmt":"2013-07-11T23:44:38","slug":"weekly-genealogy-blogging-prompt-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/weekly-genealogy-blogging-prompt-30\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Genealogy Blogging Prompt #30"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prompt:<\/strong>\u00a0 Write about your experiences with social networking tools for genealogy purposes. Do you use MySpace, Facebook or Twitter? Are you a wiki kind of person? None of the above? Tell readers about your experiences with these tools and watch your own social network grow.<\/p>\n

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\"network\"<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve stated before, I got into blogging and Facebook<\/a> through Miriam\u2019s blog AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors<\/a>.\u00a0 I had wondered about starting a blog for genealogy, so I Googled genealogy +blog to see if there were other people blogging about their genealogy.\u00a0 Sure enough, I found a few and Miriam\u2019s was one of the ones I started reading.\u00a0 She also had a badge for the GeneaBloggers group on Facebook,<\/a> so I decided to check it out.<\/p>\n

I had a FB account prior to this, but really didn\u2019t use it.\u00a0 But since discovering Miriam\u2019s blog and the GeneaBloggers group, I\u2019ve used FB to connect with over 400 other individuals interested in genealogy (as well as friends, family, and colleagues).\u00a0 I\u2019d say that I interact with about 50 of these folks on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

There have been a few instances where I have had a question about something and I get on FB to see if someone is logged on that may be able to help.\u00a0 Within minutes, I have an answer!\u00a0 It\u2019s nice to have this network in place for these occasions.\u00a0 It\u2019s also wonderful because I learn so much from these folks through FB and their blogs.<\/p>\n

Additionally, I have met distant cousins through FB and our blogs.\u00a0 Without these tools, I never would have met these wonderful people!!<\/p>\n

Several months ago, I got involved with Twitter<\/a>.\u00a0 I have to admit though, I don\u2019t really care for it.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s hard to follow conversations and interact with others.\u00a0 I truly prefer FB for conversation and interaction.\u00a0 I do have my blog posts automatically tweeted, simply as a means to reach a broader audience and those who don\u2019t use an RSS reader.<\/p>\n

Like many who read this blog, I recently joined Genealogy Wise<\/a>, which is like FB for genealogists.\u00a0 I have mixed feelings about it.\u00a0 For one, agreeing with Bill West, it\u2019s just one more place I have to go and participate in.\u00a0 But on the other hand, it is a network strictly for genealogists (10,000 and counting, in just over a month!), so there is certainly a lot of potential.\u00a0 This last month has been really busy for me and I haven\u2019t really been able to spend much time here, so the jury\u2019s still out.<\/p>\n

And then there is this blog.\u00a0 I am able to post whatever I want, and I have a faithful following.\u00a0 I can post a research problem and people are kind enough to offer help.\u00a0 Even for the routine-type posts, such as Wordless Wednesday, the comments I get offer encouragement and keep me going, both in blogging and in genealogy.<\/p>\n

I want to take a moment and thank all of my genealogy buddies across the web, whether via Facebook, Twitter, Genealogy Wise, or this blog.\u00a0 You are all wonderful people and I don\u2019t think I could have gotten this far and learned as much as I have in the last 366 days.\u00a0 And for those that I am not buddies with on FB, Twitter, or GW, I\u2019ve listed the links to my profiles below, so feel free to friend or follow me.<\/p>\n