Social networking and genealogy is as perfect as coffee and creamer. Social networking is taking the internet by storm. Websites like friendster have connected friends who have been isolated by time and distance as well as strangers with the same hobbies and preferences.
On the same vein, genealogy is connecting relatives knitted by same biological make up. It is common knowledge that the world is shrinking into a global community through technology and time and distance barriers have been broken down with fast internet connections and other communication facilities.
Before going high tech with genealogy, the old traditional ways should never be set aside. It is very important to jot down the names of relatives to as many generations as can be remembered. The best way to do this is to ask parents, aunts, uncles, grandmother and grandfathers. Include specific dates and relative events. For example, a great great grand parent may have lived in the time of war or famine. Names should be 100 percent correct because the internet programs will interpret the names to the last letter.
Once the names and dates and other events are in place, the structure of the family tree can already be drawn. The names will then be written on the websites. Many websites require that one creates an account with them. This is important to avoid pranks that may slow down their traffic.
This family tree will be promoted through email or word of mouth. Remember, this is social networking as well. We all know with friendster how the list of friends grows rapidly. Same goes with online genealogy. More and more people will add information to the nodes of the tree. Each node will expand to more nodes until the tree become a huge structure with inter-connected names.
There are interesting new discoveries that can be found once the tree grows. For instance, one may actually find that his ancestors come from different countries. From that, he can find out the causes of their migration, the conditions of different time periods and the officials during those times.
He may also be able to find out special talents that are built in into his genes. He may focus on this and develop himself to be a better person. He may even be able to find out the he is of a prodigious descent. Who knows how many famous artists, scientist and politicians he can find in his bloodline.
With the help of search engines, he can try to find contacts with living relatives he had not met. Then a new communications network begins. They might embark on a new business venture where they can use common business skills to good use. He might even find a place to stay if he wants to visit a new-found relative in a far away country.
The possibilities of knowing the extent of one’s family tree are limitless. The world is thousands of years old, it would be nice if we know how descended from the earliest people who settled this earth.
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Do you want to know exactly who your ancestors were: where they lived; what they did for a living; whether that story of highwaymen, criminals and corrupt relatives is factual, or a figment of Grandma's over-active imagination? |
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