Facebook

[Peter_uk_can]

Love it or hate it, Facebook is getting difficult to ignore.

For myself, I am not a fan, but then I don't like parsnips either so we all have personal likes and dislikes.

Sharon (Mrs me) dabbled with it about a year ago but found it annoying and intrusive, it seemed to be a meeting place for ple wh txt evthing, and post photos that are devoid of any photographic, arsistic or spelling skills.

So.. onto the plot. Sharon opened it up again last week and spent some time coming to grips with the 3 million and 7 things that it seems to want you to do.

Short version, since Saturday, that is just two days ago, she has connected with 5 new cousins, received some 20 new (old) family photos, including one of her Mum and Dad that she had not seen herself and generated more interest in our family website than we have ever seen before.

One cousin has set up a "Chaboyer Genealogy Album" within Facebook, and sent invites to 20+ family members.

Certainly Facebook is not a replacement for Forums such as this, or websites like the one we run, but it does appear to be a way to reach people that we were unable to reach before.

Times change and people change, the young squinty eyed, tongue studded, green haired, teenager of today will probably grow up, just like I did, and perhaps open up that dusty old box of papers and photos that his Mom gave him years ago and maybe even join BG Forums, but minus the green hair of course.

So what are the forum members views about Facebook ? for me it is now another tool in the genealogy tool chest.


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[SBSFamilyhistory]

It certainly appears, from your experience to help with finding information about living relatives. I have not thought ofr using face book for that, but may do so..that's if I can remember my password...

[v.wells]

I have seriously considered it and I thought as you, that it was mostly a meeting place for weirdos (although some might say I fall into that category), but I wouldn't know how to get started. Do you just title it like your web page? and hope that someone might look at it? And how do Brits access it as I don't think they have facebook there.

[Peter_uk_can]

Hi Vanessa. Facebook is world wide.

It is horrendously complex, but if you set aside an hour or so, remove all heavy objects that you could hurl through the monitor, age and treachery as we know will overcome anything.

P.S.... I don;t really know how it works, it is Sharon's domain, but I do enjoy some of the rewards.

[susan-y]

I have had a couple of 2nd or 3rd cousins in England "invite" me to join and be their friend.. seems they use it more than other genealogy sites now. So far, I haven't. Only one who has used it in our house was our youngest when he was home and I always considered it to be a "young people's" thing but more and more older people are joining in. Maybe it would be a good winter project?

Sue

[Peter_uk_can]

Maybe it would be a good winter project?

Sue

Winter project !!! I have so many "Winter Projects" i would need another ice age to get through them..

[vic1]

I use it a lot to keep in touch with family - who i don't ring cos they work shifts and other reasons and i have literally just come off my second cousin site and she has cousins on there with the name i am tracing how she knows them i have no idea because its her Mum who gave me a lot of the info. the thing is you can choose what you want to use you don't have to have to use all the applications thrown at you. i mainly go on this site facebook freecycle and another genealogical site and occ on the reunited ones which seem to tell me stuff i don't need such as umpteen hot matches that aren't. the other thing about face book uis you can lock your profile so only friends you have given access to can get on. Think its a case of what floats your boat. i don't ever use chat rooms - i don't like them .

[v.wells]

Winter project !!! I have so many "Winter Projects" i would need another ice age to get through them..

I can associate with the upcoming winter projects! It's reno time again

I will ask my son to look into creating a page since he already has one. He is in contact with former co-workers who are now all over the world. I don't like chat rooms but will look at how it works, anyway.

It is a good idea if only to possibly connect to relatives I am trying to find since it appears that they don't know that we even exist!

[salcat]

I've never been on facebook, but my husband and kids do. Anyway, as ours is quite an unusual name he had a message the other day from a 2nd cousin who said are you related to X? and we are, and we've found a whole chunk of the (close) family who had fallen out with my father in law years ago. (His brother's family)

Now all I have to do it print out some family trees for them.....

regs

Sally

[Peter_uk_can]

I think Salcat makes a very valid point about families drifting apart because of falling outs.

Our very very recent excursion into Facebook has brought up cousins who knew that "x" had not spoken to "y" for years because "z" had run off with "x's" wife,, and so on and so on.

I love a quote that came to us just this morning. Teenage son had crawled out of bed at 11:30am and was on facebook by 11:32.


"Hey Mam ! tha oughta see t' sh*t they 'ave on fowks wi' mi' dads name"

which I believe translates to.

"Good morning Mother, you may be interested to read some of the conjecture and genealogically assembled information that abounds on the internet and appears to relate directly to my father's family name"

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