Tuesday’s Tips: Social Media
Social Media is a scary adventure for some. When I first took the plunge into joining a social media website (which was facebook), it was meant to be a quick one. My goal was to find a friend that I had lost contact with. She was about 1 years younger than me and she was way into social media, which I never understood. To be frank, it scared the heck out of me. Anyhow, we had been neighbors and had both gone our own way. I wanted to check in and see how she was doing and I knew that I would be able to find her on facebook. So, I signed up with the intention of deleting that account once I made contact and had a good email address and phone # for this friend.
Best intentions never end up how we think. Before I could find this friend, a different friend found me and it went from there. Then, it was out-of-state family, oh yeah, my high school friends and lets not forget grammar school. One by one, I added more friends and knew I would never be able to delete the account. Oh yeah, I found my friend as well!
Then, I started blogging and found many genea friends that way. Facebook then got way to confusing and my family did not understand all of my genealogy related posts and I was getting way too many comments on how weird some of the stuff I was posting is. So, I decided to make a second account. I deleted all my family off of the first account and created a page directly for them, problem solved – no more comments on my weird obsession of genealogy and cemetery visits.
Then, I joined Twitter. I did not really understand it or like it either. So, I never used it. When I went to Jamboree last June, Caroline and I discussed Twitter at length and she did a great job explaining the idea behind it. She is the Twitter Queen! So, I got over my fear and started tweeting, I found some great friends there and have actually met a few in person.
So, why do you ask in Social Media my Tuesday’s Tip? Well, let me tell you. If you have a question, any question, about any subject in any area, you can tweet (on Twitter) it out there and hopefully get a reply rather quickly. To get more replies, put it on Facebook as well and see what replies you get there. Sometimes, the best advice is just a friend away, you just do not know which friend is going to have the answer. Don’t miss out on a great way to work together with other genealogists and find the answers together.
I agree! Social media is a wonderful thing. It can really help with anything from research to motivation. And, you just might find a geneabuddy along the way. 😉
Funny! I started on Twitter to find help in family history and genealogy to increase my readership for my blog, but ended up liking the social aspect so much that I got distracted AWAY from my purpose. But it’s all good. I love it all, and some friends of mine joke about my obsession with the dead, too. Gotta be known for something! LOL!
Great post.
Thanks!
Thanks, Betsy! We could be obsessed with something worse, right?
Terri, my experiences with social media echo yours in a lot of ways. I too turned to Facebook to connect with old friends, only to find it helped me connect with new ones. And I was a real skeptic about Twitter for a long time. I still feel like I’m just figuring out social media on the fly because things keep changing all the time. But I agree that it’s definitely proven its value. Great post!
Shelley, you are so correct. Social media changes every time the wind blows, it seems. But, we are all better for it. We have made new friends and have found help when needed. Thanks!