My Cyber History

 I’ve worked on computers since you had to boot them with a floppy.  HAD to get my own PC at home so I could do family history research on the internet.   The thing to do at that time was create your own web pages.  GEOCITIES was the place to be!  NO FTP software required was the life for me!  I picked out my little house on the curvy street in the Heartland neighborhood.  My address was Heartland/Flats/1291.   

I had created pages for census records, photos, and a lot of links to other web pages for genealogy research.  If I connected with someone through a mailing list, I directed them to my pages where they could find the information I had.  There wasn’t much interaction with people through that.  My “Hit” counter didn’t get very high.  Then GeoCities was bought out by Yahoo! and they paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

Mailing lists and message boards were the next best way to connect with other people researching the same families.  I “met” some new cousins that way.   Still in contact with a few of them.  Mailing lists and message boards still work with people who haven’t taken the next step…

“Social media”.  I had a MySpace page.  I didn’t do much with that space.  My daughter was coming of the age to getting into these things.  I opened a Facebook account just to find out about that.  I had it for several years before I really started adding friends.  It took off for me when friends from high school added me.  I created a group for our school, which doesn’t exist anymore.  That went over great!  Lots of interaction!  The 9 people I invited grew to over 20 just overnight!  Fast for a small school. 

I don’t know a lot of people personally who like to do family history research.  It’s fun to compare experiences with other researchers, even if it’s only in text.  Facebook is becoming really popular for genealogy groups.  I’m in several.  Works very well to interact with people immediately.   Feedback on questions or ideas is instant.

So now I'll try a blog.  What I know about blogs I learned from “Julie & Julia”.   I have no experience, no journalism education.  I’m not a professional or certified genealogists, just have 20 plus years experience.  I will appreciate it if anyone reads this, and will graciously accept any constructive criticism.   Be kind, I’m a beginner. 

Today, there is a new kind of trunk in the attic.  What do you have in yours?