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Social networking for genealogy. Advice please.

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  • Social networking for genealogy. Advice please.

    I've just been reading an article in the new WDYTYA magazine about using sites like Facebook etc. and photo hosting ones and blogs to hopefully catch the attention of relatives that don't know I exist.

    I have a few photos from my Gran's old cottage that contain people I don't know and also some details of people who are my 2nd cousins and could tell me about living people in their branch of the family, if they only knew about me (my Dad's family are all English but I'm a born and resident Scot).

    When I started to read the article, I thought this might be a good idea but by the end, I was a lot less sure.

    I am not at all keen on every Tom, Dick and Harry being able to attach themselves to my page and by extension, all of the people who are their "friends" in their turn.

    I'd like to post up photos and I little bit about the people I would like to make contact with but I don't want to be taken over by unknown people. There was also a warning that your personal email account could be hijacked too.

    Has anybody gone down this road and could advise me what site to try and what options to use in the site to keep myself secure? I currently don't have any accounts with networking/blogging sites.

    I'd be most grateful for any help at all.

  • #2
    Possibly worth having a look at Flickr (see my other thread).

    It might seem an odd choice but you may well find a group or series of photographs connected to a particular area, you can also "hide" your images from the public and just allow contacts to have access to them. You may also find that there are some images of interest you might be able to download (or ask for copies via e-mail for example) if they are of interest.

    Initially you could access the site and search for a group or images based on a keyword search (eg a place, surname etc).

    There may even be a family history type group but i have never tried to search for one
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/50125734@N06/

    Joseph Goulson 1701-1780
    My sledging hammer lies declined, my bellows too have lost their wind
    My fire's extinct, my forge decay'd, and in the dust my vice is laid

    Comment


    • #3
      I have just received an email about something similar. Haven't tried it myself, but you could try googling it and see if it looks useful.

      FamilyLink Launches "Facebook for Genealogists"
      FamilyLink has launched a new social network web site just for genealogists called GenealogyWise.com. It’s like Facebook, but focused on genealogy and its practitioners. There’s no cost to join

      Comment


      • #4
        One of my second cousins set up a family group on Friends Reunited which I have joined. I'm not sure if its worth it though, why not just keep in contact by email? To join a family/friend group you have to know what site they are using, which takes me back to using email to keep in contact once you have made the initial contact.

        Comment


        • #5
          Trouble is BEARGER that I only have info on these 2nd cousins from ancestry searches in the BMD and the details on the death cert of my Gt Uncle George which arrrived on Friday. I've no idea where they are living at present.

          I tried 2 speculative phonecalls to Crewe the other night (first time I've ever done that) but both drew a blank. Addreses and initials in the phonebook suggested a high chance of success, but no joy.

          Comment


          • #6
            Trina,

            That one didn't get a mention in the article. Many thanks, I'll go have a look.

            Comment


            • #7
              Glen,

              Is that your post today about past and present photos or another one?

              Comment


              • #8
                i have used face book to find 1st cousin and loads of cousin i dont know

                what i would say if you are looking for some who knew in the past use the name they knew as ie madien name or nickname

                get email in that name

                and just use that face book acount for people you dont know so be careful what you say

                dont join any net works on face book again cos anyone in that network can see your profile
                and you set your priviety setting so freinds of freinds dont see your phots

                play with it be fore putting info up there

                some times googling the name leads to you face book anyway

                then you just do a search on facebook and find who you want and ask them to be your freind add a message or just email them
                every one you ask to be you freind will be able to see you profile
                wye surrey/london/birmingham
                lawrence/laurence berkshire/london/norfolk
                hall harrison cook/e pratt surrey
                ebbage maltby pratt norfolk
                herbert pratt yorkshire/hampshire
                armstrong/rickinson/harrison/beddington yorkshire

                Comment


                • #9
                  They also mentioned the site GeneaBloggers web site which I am going to have a look at
                  borobabs passed away March 2018

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I've been and gorn and done it. Am now the owner of a page and the administrator of a group on Flickr. Oh the power LOL

                    Next question - does the likes of Google pick up all the tags and descriptions I attached to the photos? I hope so as it bally well took me nearly 4 hours, me not being too good with this picture techno stuff as Glen well knows.

                    If the engines don't pick things up, is there anything more I can do to make that happen?

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Am off to pubquiz now to give my brain a rest...;)

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        The tags should get picked up by google before too long, the better a tag matches to the keyword the better, if you have several images to tag at one go then it might be easier to use the "batch organize" option on Flickr.
                        You can add the same tag to multiple images at one go (i think i added the same tag to 70 images at once yesterday) or select specific tags from your current list, or add new ones to individual images.

                        If you need a screengrab posting just shout.

                        The best way to "advertise" yourself within Flickr is to join a few groups too, or simply add a comment here and there to images you like, that way your name/username will become more public and so will your group. Perhaps a few of us here can join and have a discussion thread to make the group appear to have some activity too. Sometimes the discussion threads can be very interesting and informative, it was really the discussion threads that encouraged me to join the Gainsborough group initially.

                        My photostream isn't exactly the most popular on Flickr but if you want to add a simple hello or something to one of my family history pics to get your name "out there" a little then please do, just click the link in my signature here to find my photostream.

                        Best of luck with the group.
                        Last edited by Glen in Tinsel Knickers; 14-07-09, 00:36.
                        http://www.flickr.com/photos/50125734@N06/

                        Joseph Goulson 1701-1780
                        My sledging hammer lies declined, my bellows too have lost their wind
                        My fire's extinct, my forge decay'd, and in the dust my vice is laid

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I noticed that you had that link as your signature Glen. This is just a test to see if I've got the correct link to the group. Should I put the weblink to the photostream or the group do you think? I've put all the photos in both places but I don't know if others can will be aware if they click on my photostream that the group exists and vice versa.

                          Sorry to be so thick! LOL

                          Flickr: The Murray family of Shropshire, Cheshire and Lancashire

                          That brings up my group page ok. If I then click on any of the pictures there, it opens up my photostream so that's good. Now I'll try a link to my photostream and see what happens - watch this space! Haven't a clue how the link contains the phrase "whoarethey" as I didn't choose it.

                          http://www.flickr.com/photos/whoarethey/

                          That looks ok too. There is a strip on the right which mentions the name of the set the photo(s) are in and also the group. I'll log in again and see if I can add tags to my group name as well as the photos and maybe find out how my photostream got be called what it is.

                          I've always been known for talking to myself but this online chuntering of thoughts is a bit weird...
                          Last edited by GallowayLass; 14-07-09, 11:11. Reason: addition

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            It doesn't really matter which link you post though it's probably easier to stick with the group link if you post to sites outside of Flickr. I'd be tempted to plop the link onto sites such as SFT, Roots and in the wiki too, you never quite know just where and when folks stumble across a post.

                            I like the group intro, it's clear and explains what the group is about, when i get chance for a proper look i will have a bit of a nosey through in more detail and come back to you.

                            I'll pop you down as a contact if that's ok, a few of my contacts might then visit your images and if they add a comment it will appear beneath the image in both your photostream and also on the group page. Chances are they won't comment but the more folks we can steer towards the images for you the better.
                            http://www.flickr.com/photos/50125734@N06/

                            Joseph Goulson 1701-1780
                            My sledging hammer lies declined, my bellows too have lost their wind
                            My fire's extinct, my forge decay'd, and in the dust my vice is laid

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              You're a gem Glen! I've added a comment to your white Ford Escort and dodgy trousers pic. Can I add you as my first contact as well please? I'll try to get the link into my FTF signature but I've a feeling that the new rules on length my stop me as I've already got more than 6 lines in it. I'll start a new thread for the group and invite FTF members to go have a look and leave comments.

                              Comment


                              • #16
                                Nope. I have fallen foul of the new signature rules. I've tried taking out my quotation and also tightening up the family name lines into 1 long string and still it won't play ball.

                                Comment


                                • #17
                                  i have add you both as contact even though i do not really get fickr yet

                                  does seem a really good idea for old phots

                                  why are you photo copywritered and how is that done
                                  wye surrey/london/birmingham
                                  lawrence/laurence berkshire/london/norfolk
                                  hall harrison cook/e pratt surrey
                                  ebbage maltby pratt norfolk
                                  herbert pratt yorkshire/hampshire
                                  armstrong/rickinson/harrison/beddington yorkshire

                                  Comment


                                  • #18
                                    Got you in my contacts and just for info, i'm not the one wearing the fashionable 1970's three button waistband flares, that's my younger (bigger!) bruvva.

                                    I'm going to shamelessly trump your thread for a moment or two, i posted a pic of my mum on the Gainsborough group and asked for info about the photographer, low and behold i now know a lot more about the man thanks to some info added to my pic, plus there have been images of the photographer and his shop (predating his connection by a few years).

                                    I can't promise Flickr will do the same for everyone but as an example of what you just might be lucky enough to find see the comment added to my picture along with the theimages added straight after mine in the group

                                    Ernest W Carter..photographer 2/2 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
                                    http://www.flickr.com/photos/50125734@N06/

                                    Joseph Goulson 1701-1780
                                    My sledging hammer lies declined, my bellows too have lost their wind
                                    My fire's extinct, my forge decay'd, and in the dust my vice is laid

                                    Comment


                                    • #19
                                      I saw that Glen. What a stroke of luck. I have a photo of Gran's brother Jack which is not on Flickr yet. It's a bit of a mystery. He's all dressed up in teacher's clothes but appears way too young to actually be teaching at that point. Someone on here suggested he could be have been a "pupil teacher". That seems a very good idea but if so, then why was the photo not taken in Stoke? It's actually taken in Lincolnshire and i now know more about the photographer and his family from specialist websites and censuses than I do about Gt. Uncle Jack LOL

                                      The photographer had no connections or satellite studios in Stoke so I'm left wondering what the heck Jack was doing in Lincolnshire?

                                      Comment


                                      • #20
                                        Couple of tips re Flickr;

                                        Add an avatar for yourself as generally the default "plug face" avatar is sometimes seen as belonging to someone not to be trusted and keep the "safe" setting for pictures that may be added to the group. I doubt you will have a problem but the safe setting means your group also appears in more searches and is deemed suitable for all to view and/or join.
                                        http://www.flickr.com/photos/50125734@N06/

                                        Joseph Goulson 1701-1780
                                        My sledging hammer lies declined, my bellows too have lost their wind
                                        My fire's extinct, my forge decay'd, and in the dust my vice is laid

                                        Comment

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