Social media for family history part 2

When I recently ran a social media for seniors session at the library we discussed a number of well known social media sites that people may be interested in. As the session progressed it was obvious that most of the social media sites have common features. Once you are aware of these it should be relatively easy to navigate a social media site. The examples below are from Facebook but the features can be located on most social media sites.
To use most of these features you will first need to sign up to the social media site.

Posts not only provide information but also provide readers the opportunity to comment often adding to discussion.
Readers can like a post
Comment on a post or
Share a post

 There is a box beneath the post where you can write a comment and / or add an image.

You will also find a box allowing you to write a new post and add a photo or video.

In Facebook, once you start writing a post additional features appear including the Post button to post the message.

There is also usually a search box so that you can search for pages or groups of interest.

Some pages or groups allow you to search for specific content. Some groups also allow you to search for topics of posts of group members.

Enjoy exploring some of the social media sites mentioned in the previous post and determine how they may assist with local and family history research.

Social media for family history

For work I am preparing a presentation introducing social media to seniors. Although the presentation will deal with social media in general, social media can be a useful aid for family history research. This blog post therefore provides a brief introduction to social media for family history research but the principles apply for using social media for any topic.

What is social media?
Social media can be defined as 'websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking [Oxford dictionaries]. Social media is about sharing and communicating. This includes communicating with friends, family, peers, or just people with the same interests with you. Social media is particularly useful for the sharing of information within an interest group.

 Examples of social media sites include Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Flickr, Pinterest, blogs, podcasts and communication sites such as Skype.

Social media for connecting with people and organisations.

Facebook
Facebook is the largest and possibly best known social media site. It can be used to keep track of friends and family. It allows family and friends to keep up to date with activities and it allows communication between people of similar interests.

In August last year I gave a presentation on using Facebook for Family History Research. This link will take you to a brief summary of that talk plus a selected list of Facebook pages that may be helpful when researching family history.

Twitter
Twitter is an online news and social networking service where users post and read short messages of not more than 140 characters. Twitter is a blend of instant messaging, blogging and texting but with brief content and a very broad audience. Many organisations, including libraries and archives, have Twitter accounts where they promote or comment on events, resources or news items. Twitter also allows users to follow people of interest using Twitter to communicate their views.

Twitter is also often used by participants and speakers at conferences to promote and comment on papers and events. Twitter users the # symbol (hashtag) at such events so that tweets concerning the conference or activity can be grouped and easily accessed. An example is the Roots Tech 2017 conference where  #rootstech is the official hashtag though #rootstech2017 is also used. @rootstechconf is the user name sign for the conference.

Sharing media

YouTube
YouTube is a free video sharing website that makes it easy to view and upload videos online. You will find a wide range of vidoes on almost any topic on YouTube.

Anyone can search for topics on YouTube. For example searching for terms such as 'genealogy' or genealogy and family history research' produces a list of 'how to' videos that may be useful, particularly for those starting out in their search for their family history. Of course you can also search for specific subjects such as 'First Fleet Australia' or 'Convicts Australia' or names of people and places. Have fun and investigate.

Flickr
Flickr is a photo sharing resource where you can view and share images. If you want to upload photos to Flickr you must open an account. Uploaded photos can be shared with the world or just to a selected group

If you upload an image additional information and comments can be added to the image.Selected images can be added to albums created by the owner of the images. Links to an album or an individual image can be sent in an email to those who may be interested.

Group boards can be set up on Flickr relating to a theme. You can search for and locate images on almost any topic on Flickr.

Pinterest
Pinterest describes itself as 'the world's catalogue of ideas'. Users of Pinterest create a 'board' and then 'pin' relevant items to the board. The boards on Pinterest are classified into broad subjects which can be a starting point for searching Pinterest. You can also search for specific subjects such as 'Trove Tuesday' or a place such as 'Bath Somerset' or a building 'Westminster Abbey London'.

PC Magazine article 'How to use Pinterest for beginners'

Blogs
The word blog is a truncation of web log. A blog consists of a series of articles called posts.In some cases it may act as a person's journal or diary. It can be used to express a person's thoughts or passiona in general or may be confined to one topic. Blogs are often used for publishing information about your family history. The use of labels is a useful way for connecting posts on a simialr theme.

Blogs are regularly updated and posts are arranged with the most recent post first. A person who writes a blog is called a blogger. Blogs can be set up so that more than one person can add posts to a blog. Blog posts can be made anywhere provided that there is an Internet connection. People can comment on blog posts and if there is a contact box they can contact the blogger directly.

The two main blogging sites are Blogger and Word Press.

There are many blogs useful for researching genealogy and family history and a list of selected sites is provided elsewhere in this blog. Typing a name in inverted commas followed by the word, blog, in a Google search can help locate information about people and places in blogs.

Podcasts
A podcast is a digital audio file made available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device. Typically podcasts are available as a series, new instalments of which can be received by subscribers automatically. Podcasts can often be downloaded via a subscription service such as itunes. In some cases they can be downloaded directly from a website. Podcasts are normally free. Search Google for free podcasts on any topic. A search for 'genealogy podcasts free' provided this list on Google.

Social Media for Communicating
Communicating with other people is an important feature of the Internet.
Email is now accepted as the accepted method of communication.
Text or Instant Messaging is another communication method used by a growing number of people.
The Internet also allows people to use Voice Chat and Video Chat to communicate with family, friends and for business. Voice Chat and Video Chat are sometimes used for providing information to a group, perhaps a lecture on a genealogy topic.

There are a number of ways voice chat and video chat sessions can be conducted via the Internet. Skype (owned by Microsoft) and Face Time (Apple) are two programs used by individuals to contact people from home.

Skype
To use instant messaging, voice and video chat you will need an Internet connection and a broadband account with an Internet Service Provider. To use Skype you will also need to download Skype from the Skype website and set up an account with Skype. People you wish to communicate with also need to set up Skype accounts. If the computer does not have an inbuilt  microphone or webcam these will be needed for voice and video chats.

The Help feature on the Skype website provides information for using Skype on different devices. When you search Help it automatically knows the type of device you are using.

It is important to remember that while Skype to Skype calls are free, there are charges if a call is made to normal phone.

For family history research, Skype and similar programs can be useful if you want to interview a family member or discuss a project with family members.

Another program for voice and video chats and instant messaging is Google Hangouts.No additional computer software is required to use Google Hangouts.

Other Social Media Sites that are often mentioned

Instagram
Instagram is an online mobile photo sharing site allowing users to share pictures and videos on the app as well as via Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr. 
Link to a useful article on How to Use Instagram.

Google+
Google+ is a social networking site similar to Facebook. However it allows you to set up Circles of friends rather than one large group. It also has a section for Collections.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a social networking tool specifically for the business community. LinkedIn aims to help people build a professional identity online as well as discover professional opportunities.

Tumblr
Tumblr is a microblogging tool enabling you to publish short posts containing images, text, audio and video. Tumblr posts are much shorter than traditional blog posts.

Tech Savvy Seniors provides useful information on social media and how to use social networking tools.

Family history sites on Facebook

Examples of Types of Family History related sites on Facebook

There are many ways that Facebook can be useful for Family History research. In the following list are examples of just a few of the Facebook Pages and Groups that may be useful.

The type of pages and groups chosen will depend on the locality and interests that you are researching. For example in this list, many of the Facebook pages and groups are from the Hawkesbury area as members of my family settled there.
The general sites in my list are for organisations primarily in Australia (east coast) and England, Ireland and Scotland. There will be similar pages and groups for other countries and regions.

See previous post on Facebook for additional information.

Libraries and Archives

State Library of Victoria

Public Record Office Victoria

State Records of NSW

National Library of Australia

National Archives of Australia

National Archives (UK)

Hawkesbury Library Service

Historical Societies and Family History Research Groups

Royal Historical Society ofVictoria

Hawkesbury Family History Group

 Specific Location Groups

Lost Melbourne

Lost Country Victoria

Bayswater History

Hobart, Then and Now

Irish Genealogy

Scotlands Genealogy

Genealogy Assistance

Find My Past

Ancestry AUS

Scotlands People

University of Tasmania Family History

Inside History Magazine

GUM – Computers for FamilyHistory

31 Days to Better Genealogy

Genealogy Do-Over

Single Issue Research Groups

First Fleet 1788 Researchers

Second fleet 1790 Researchers

Third Fleet 1791 Researchers

Norfolk Island Researchers

Family Groups

William Roberts and Kezia Brown

Court Genealogy Family History

Organisations

Hawkesbury Cemetery Register

Rookwood Cemetery, NSW

Resources Groups

Australian Local and FamilyHistory Bloggers

Trove

Fund Trove

Useful Websites for Locating Genealogy Related Facebook Pages

Family Search Wiki - Facebook Genealogy

Cyndi's List - Social Networking - Facebook

Lonetester HQ - Facebook for Australian History and Genealogy

Katherine Wilson - Genealogy on Facebook list 

Using Facebook for Family History research

In a recent post on the Genealogy-Do-Over Facebook group, Thomas MacEntee mentioned the Legacy Family Tree webinair he had recently made - Facebook: a tool for Genealogy Research. This is a member only resource for those who subscribe to Legacy Family Tree webinairs but the GeneaBloggers site has a link to a preview of the webinair.

This led me to think about how I use Facebook for genealogy research.When I set up my Facebook page in 2013 it was primarily to communicate with family and friends. However I soon discovered genealogy, history and library or archive organisations with Facebook pages and selected a number that I now receive regular updates from.  These Facebook groups are usually open sites and once you click the Like button you will receive in your News Feed any subsequent posts made in these groups. This is a good way to keep up to date with what is happening in your area of interest. Some of the Facebook pages of organisations that I have Liked include:

• Scotlands Genealogy
• Scotlands People
• Irelands Genealogy Page
• National Archives of Australia
• National Archives (UK)
• Inside History Magazine
• VicGum
• Royal Historical Society of Victoria
• Facebook pages of a number of local historical societies
• Hawkesbury Family History Group
• Hawkesbury Library Service
• Ancestry
• Find My Past
• Lost Melbourne and Lost Sydney

To locate the Facebook page of an organisation go to the Find Friends box at the top of your News Feed page and start typing in the name of the organisation - the more letters you type the more likely you will find what you are looking for. If you find a Facebook site you want to investigate click the link to go to the Facebook page.

In this example I was looking for Public Record Office of Victoria (third on the list). The note at the bottom of the page (in blue bar) - See more results - will provide additional options if you cannot find what you want in the initial list.

If you want to receive updates from this Facebook page click the Like button. The name of the group that you have Liked will appear in the left column of your Timeline page.

You can use the same method to locate people who may also be interested in your area of interest.

One of the features of Facebook is that groups for people with similar interests can be created. Recently I joined two groups related to my Convict research. I no doubt will add others to my list. There are also groups relating to specific branches of a family.

• Norfolk Island History Lovers
• First Fleet 1788 Researchers

Already I have found other researchers investigating members on my family tree as well as relevant information mentioned in earlier posts. Private messages can be sent to members of the group arranging to share information.

In the Search this group box under the header of the group page type in the name of the person you are researching. Any posts mentioning this name will then be displayed. Sometimes the person may be mentioned in a comment relating to the post.

Facebook can therefore be a useful tool for locating fellow researchers plus information relating to your family history research.

Since first writing this post I have discovered another interesting way that Facebook can be used to promote history or tell a story.  Anzac Live recounts the involvement of individual Australians during World War I as if they were posting their thoughts on Facebook.

Genealogy Do-Over - interesting blog posts

On 15 December 2014 in his blog,  Geneabloggers, genealogist Thomas MacEntee announced that, from 2 January 2015, he was proposing a 13 week pause in his genealogy endeavours to review techniques and processes and start his research from scratch. Additional information about this proposal has caused a great deal on discussion, some of which can be viewed in the links below. He called the program Genealogy-Do-Over.

Website - Genealogy-Do-Over

Facebook -  Genealogy-Do-Over - (Need to apply to join this group)

Bag the web - Genealogy-Do-Over- (This is an excellent site to read the blog posts and comments re this project)

Genealogy-Do-Over - Week 1 - (Participants can receive email reports each week)

Since the announcement a number of bloggers have provided, often useful information, on research techniques, programs they use, methods for organising paper and digital files and ways they could improve their research. Below are just a few of the initial posts.

Key genealogy categories for tackling your goals - AnceStories

Embracing my mistakes - Why I am participating in the Genealogy-Do-Over in 2015 - Accidental Genealogist

Research logs - The Anglers Rest

Using One Note for genealogy - For your family story

Tessa Keogh - You Tube for genealogy

Genealogy-Do-Over Week 1- Piney Woods & Prairie Winds

A Genealogy-Do-Over - my thoughts - Keogh Corner

5th blogiversary - reflections and goals - Family history across the seas

My Genealogy-Do-Over - Tracing my roots: who do I think I am?

Genealogy record keeping - Loveless & Lovelace family

It should be interesting to read the information provided and the ensuing discussion.

If nothing else, it should encourage many doing their family history to stop and think about how they are carrying out their research; if necessary, review their family trees (in some cases start again) and learn how to carefully read original documents.