Social Media for Genealogists
Gena Philibert-Ortega
Social Media for genealogy? Social Media allows you to share, curate, network and do
genealogy in ways only dreamt about previously.
Social Media = Forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and
microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas,
personal messages, and other content (as videos) ( Miriam-Webster, http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/social%20media).
What do you use Social Media for?
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Finding relatives and other genealogists
Finding researchers researching in the same localities/same family lines/same topics
Receiving help from family members (ex. posting pictures and having them identify)
Chatting with family/friends (both informal question sessions and educational chats)
Joining groups that relate to research for your surname/locality/topic
Getting the word out about your research
Learning from other genealogists
Updates from genealogy companies, business, groups
Sharing content
Curating content
Websites
Genealogy Related
FamilySearch Research Wiki: https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Main_Page
GenealogyWise: http://www.genealogywise.com/
Geni: http://www.geni.com/
WikiTree: http://www.wikitree.com/
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We Relate: http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Main_Page
© 2013-2015 Gena Philibert-Ortega. (909) 556-9003.www.genaphilibertortega.com. Publication, copying,
reproduction, or otherwise reuse of this document or any part thereof is not permitted without express written
permission from the author.
Social Networking
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com
GooglePlus: https://plus.google.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/
MicroBlogging
Twitter: http://twitter.com/
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com
Images
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/
Flickr the Commons: http://www.flickr.com/commons
Instagram: http://instagram.com/
Maps
Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/
Historypin: http://maps.google.com/
WhatWasThere: http://www.whatwasthere.com/
Panoramio: http://www.panoramio.com/
Blogs
Type Pad: http://www.typepad.com/
© 2013-2015 Gena Philibert-Ortega. (909) 556-9003.www.genaphilibertortega.com. Publication, copying,
reproduction, or otherwise reuse of this document or any part thereof is not permitted without express written
permission from the author.
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WordPress: http://wordpress.org/
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Blogger: http://www.blogger.com/
Virtual Worlds
Second Life: http://secondlife.com/
Genealogy to Follow
#GenChat on Twitter
Dear Myrtle’s Genealogy Community on GooglePlus
Tech for Genealogy & Family History Researchers on Google Plus
Genealogy Facebook Groups
Places to find Information
Blogging Genealogy: http://www.blogginggenealogy.com/
Facebook Blog: http://blog.facebook.com/
Geneabloggers Twitter Tip Sheet: http://www.geneabloggers.com/twitter-cheat-sheet/
Makeuseof : http://www.makeuseof.com/ (Make sure to check out their Cheats and Guides
section)
FamilySearch Blog -Tech Tips Archive : https://familysearch.org/techtips/
Cyndi’s List – Social Networking: http://www.cyndislist.com/social-networking
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One of the important things to remember is that by participating in a social network site, people
are able to find you. This allows you to network with other genealogists, find cousins and learn
more about your family history research. The negative aspect to being visible on the internet is
that people can find you. Based on how you adjust your privacy settings, people do have access
to that information outside of the social network. Google and other search engines “crawl” the
internet to find information that they then index and make available. This can be great in that it
allows others to find you but if you do not want to be found for whatever reason this can seem
like an infringement of privacy.
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Tips for Social Networking
© 2013-2015 Gena Philibert-Ortega. (909) 556-9003.www.genaphilibertortega.com. Publication, copying,
reproduction, or otherwise reuse of this document or any part thereof is not permitted without express written
permission from the author.
The following are some tips to consider whether you are on a social network site or even if you
just post information on message boards or comments on websites.
1. Don’t reveal too much about yourself, unless you want to. Just because a social network
site asks for information about where you live, what high school you went to, etc…doesn’t
mean you have to provide that information. Many people don’t join social media websites
because they don’t want to lose their privacy. Each website does have privacy settings and
you choose what you reveal. But remember that search engines do “crawl” social network
websites.
2. Decide what you are comfortable with and then add privacy settings to control who can
see your information. Once you sign up for a social network website, check out the privacy
settings and set them according to your comfort.
3. Make a rule about who you will "friend." As genealogists, we often have people “friend”
us because of our common passion, genealogy. It is always a good idea to send a message
with friend request stating who you are or how you know the person. That way they know
that they “know” you and you are not just a random person wanting to add one more
“friend." Let’s face it, in some cases it may not seem like a big deal to friend someone but
you are potentially giving them access to a lot of your personal information, thoughts and the
thoughts and photos of family and friends.
4. Be careful about what you write. Be careful what you write on your friend's wall or as
comments to their postings. Remember, they will not be the only people who see it. Their
friends will also see it
5. Use the Private Message function to send private messages to other members. There are
many ways to communicate with other members on Facebook, Twitter and GenealogyWise.
You can post a comment to their wall, meet them for a private chat or send a private
message. The private or direct message option is the best for sending information that you
don’t want made public. One time on Facebook, I saw a posting on a mutual friend’s wall
where the person included her address and phone number. This may not be information you
want your friend’s 500 “friends” to see.
© 2013-2015 Gena Philibert-Ortega. (909) 556-9003.www.genaphilibertortega.com. Publication, copying,
reproduction, or otherwise reuse of this document or any part thereof is not permitted without express written
permission from the author.
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7. I think, most of all, remember that this is your public face. This is a way people can find
you. Being able to find people and be found is important in genealogy. That’s how you
connect with cousins and learn more.
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6. You can choose any image as your profile picture, so if you are uncomfortable with your
current picture being on the internet, then choose an older photograph, vintage family picture
or something more obscure.