Social Media and Genealogy
By Angelo Coniglio
Genealogists of all stripes, especially ‘amateurs’ have long subscribed to the idea of ‘reciprocal acts of kindness’. By ‘amateurs’ I am referring not necessarily to novice or inexperienced researchers, but simply to those who don’t accept payment for their services, many of whom are certainly experienced and ‘professional’ in all other respects. The ‘acts of kindness’ might include, for example, taking a photo of a headstone for another researcher who is far away; visiting a records repository in a researcher’s ancestral town, and so on.
In this internet age, another means of helping others (or receiving help) presents itself, in ‘social media’. Two that I use are ‘Linked in’ and ‘facebook’. Both are free, unless “upgrades” are wanted. I have used both for years, without needing to upgrade at an extra cost.
Like most sites, some users, and therefore some messages you receive, will involve suggestions for purchase of goods or services; however, I find that these offers are generally ‘low-key’ and no one is required to purchase anything they don’t want, or to join a ‘pushy’ group. One can also ask other users to comment on the value or desirability of such services. Members can post virtually any type of question or request, from translation of a single word to an entire document, to hints on how to start a family tree, to what software is best, to help in finding a specific ancestral record. Both sites give only as much information about the user as he/she wants to release (in their “profiles”), and allow private messages between registered users without revealing names or e-addresses unless desired.
‘Linked in’ (www.linkedin.com) is essentially an on-line site that enables working professionals to interact, find employment (or potential employees), etc. However, one need not be in any given profession to join, or be actively employed, nor necessarily be interested in the primary agenda of the site. It has numerous “groups”, membership in which allows discussion on topics of interest.
Typical Linked in genealogy groups include: Books About Genealogy; Genealogy Research Group; Italian Genealogy; Sicily (Sicilia) Genealogy; International Society of Genetic Genealogy and many more.
‘facebook’ (www.facebook.com) is the seminal, iconic, ‘social medium’. Certainly much of the traffic on it is ordinary, mundane discussion of day-to-day lives, activities, interests and gripes. But it, too, has valuable genealogy-oriented groups: Sicilian and Aeolian Islands Genealogy; Italian Genealogy Records; Genealogy! Just ask!; DNA Detectives; Ancestry-GEDmatch-FTDNA-23andMe-Genealogy-DNA and more, including groups specific to individual towns of origin; Valledolmo; Serradifalco, etc.
I have seen novice researchers ask on-line questions such as: “My grandparents (so-and-so and his wife, so-and-so) came to America in 1910, and I know nothing else about them.” And within a few hours (or even minutes) such queries can receive responses from one or several users, on how to proceed with the research; in many cases, with details from census records, passenger manifests and ancestral towns that identify the immigrants, give extensive facts, and even include images of the desired records and/or links to the websites that contain the information. As noted, some responses may direct you to services for pay, but even these may serve your needs at a reasonable price.
So if you have a question about genealogy, or specifically about your Sicilian or Italian ancestors, be social! Join Linked in or facebook and make some new friends who may be able to help you in your quest. Such interaction may also put you in touch with previously unknown family members researching the same lines in which you are interested.
Coniglio is the author of the book The Lady of the Wheel, inspired by his Sicilian research. Order the paperback or the Kindle version at http://bit.ly/SicilianStory
Coniglio’s web page at http://bit.ly/AFCGen has helpful hints on genealogical research. If you have genealogy questions, or would like him to lecture to your club or group, e-mail him at genealogytips@aol.com
