Jason Howie, https://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonahowie/7910370882
The internet has really
revolutionized how we do genealogy – whether facilitating our research or
putting us in touch with cousins.
On top of that, social media
such as Facebook (and Twitter) have expanded the ways in which we can “connect”
with possibly cousins! The more people
we can link to as we research our ancestors, the more pieces of the “puzzle” we
might have access to.
I mention this as there was
an article published on Computerworld, Why the social networks are falling apart, which makes me
wonder is this prophecy good or bad for genealogists? I am kind of leaning toward the latter.
As my husband and I
discussed, this phenomenon is good for entrepreneurs as it results in “room to
create new social media platforms. They
won’t be absorbed by the borg, except from an advertizing platform perspective.”
On the other hand, for family
researchers won’t this create a world where there are “more places for “us” as
consumers to have to spread ourselves “thinner” in more place to connect with
others?” It seems that the some
centralization, such as via a Facebook platform, has benefited us as a
wonderful opportunity to find cousins, those researching the same geographic
locale, etc. If an increasing number of social platforms are created, won’t it be that much harder for us to “connect” to anyone as each platform will represent a possibly shrinking subset of those doing family research?
What do you think?
Assuming that social networks are falling apart, are genealogists
winners and losers?
Editor’s Note: If you don’t get the “borg”
reference, you probably haven’t watched Star Trek. The line we always reference in our family is
“resistance is futile.”
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